The whole pope choosing thing is happening again, you know, the papal conclave where they pick the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. It all kicks off on Wednesday, bringing cardinals from all over the place to pick the 267th pope. Since Pope Francis passed away on April 21, 220 cardinals have shown up in Rome to pay their respects and start the super secret conclave. Out of those, 133 cardinals will be casting their votes, which is like the most ever. And guess what? 108 of them were picked by Pope Francis himself. Talk about keeping it in the family, right?
The majority of these cardinals are rolling in from Europe, with 17 from Italy, 5 each from Spain and France, and 10 from the good ol’ United States. There’s also a bunch from other places like North America, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Argentina, where Francis is from, has four cardinal electors in the mix too.
All 220 cardinals are gonna attend a mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning and then head over to the Pauline Chapel before making their way to the Sistine Chapel for the main event. They’re gonna be voting twice a day, morning and evening, and things kick off when the Master of Ceremony says “everyone out” at around 5 p.m. local time. The voting continues until two-thirds of the cardinals can agree on a new pope.
After each vote, the ballots are burned and the smoke that comes out of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel lets everyone know what’s up. Black smoke means they haven’t reached a decision yet, and white smoke means they’ve found their guy. Things could wrap up real quick, or they could be stuck in the chapel for days on end. No conclave has lasted more than four days since 1831, so let’s hope they get it together this time.
If they can’t make up their minds after 33 or 34 votes, then the top two candidates will go head to head in a runoff vote. It’s like a papal showdown, except with more robes and less gun-slinging. The winner needs to snag a two-thirds majority of the votes to become the new pope.
Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco thinks they’ll have it all sorted out by Friday, while Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako is betting on a short conclave, like two or three days short. These guys are pretty confident about the whole thing.
As for who might snag the top spot, experts are eyeing Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Luis Tagle as the frontrunners. There’s also talk about American Cardinal Robert Prevost making a play for the papacy. It’s like a reality TV show, but with more praying and less drama.
Overall, the cardinals are looking for someone who’s holy, good at spreading the gospel, and can manage the church like a boss. Finding all three in one person is like finding a needle in a haystack, but hey, miracles can happen, right?
During the conclave, no recording devices are allowed, and the cardinals have to hand over their phones. Gotta keep things super secret, you know? The tech guys are making sure there are no bugs in the chapel, so it’s all old school voting from here on out.
And that’s the lowdown on the papal conclave. Let’s see who comes out on top as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s like the Super Bowl of the Vatican, only with more candles and less nachos.
