essential The 76th conclave in history opens this Wednesday, May 7. A period during which all eyes will be on the Vatican.
It is this Wednesday, May 7, 2025 that the Sixitine chapel opens, the 76th conclave-in the configuration that we know-of history. It must allow the election of the 267th sovereign pontiff of the Catholic Church.
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Before 1059 and the promulgation by Pope Nicolas II of the Pontifical Bulle In the name of the Lordthere were not really rules concerning the election of the Pope. From this date, the ballot was limited only to the cardinals.
The first conclave in history in 1276
The first pope elected by the conclave – from Latin cum (with) and clave (key) to designate a locked piece – was innocent V, in January 1276, when the term “conclave” was used for the first time.
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133 cardinals, two thirds of the votes to win
From this Wednesday, 133 cardinals-electors, under the age of 80, come together to elect the new head of the Catholic Church. The future Pope must collect two thirds of the votes (89) of the Assembly to access the supreme function.
A vote Wednesday, then four a day
On the first day of the conclave, only one vote is scheduled in the afternoon. It is a sort of a heating trick, where many names come out of the polls. In general, the votes are rather of the order of the symbol, between friendship and respect for each other.
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From the second day of the conclave, serious things begin. Two ballot towers are organized in the morning, and in the afternoon. Or four laps. If after three days, no name is consensus, a “prayer break” is observed by the cardinals. Recall that in two previous elections of the Pope, Benoît XVI and François had been chosen in less than 48 hours.
-There is no time limit to designate the new pontiff sovereign, the election lasts until the designation.
The Disconnected Vatican
During the conclave, the small city-state will cut the telephone signal on its territory, with the exception of Place Saint-Pierre. Also, “all technological devices and () sensors installed in recent years in the Sistine Chapel”, have been deactivated, specifies the Holy See.
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Before the start of the vote, several technicians have tried to obscure all the windows of the Vatican Palace in areas intended for the conclave. About 80 lead seals are also placed at all entries in the perimeter.
The cardinals cut off from the world
All participants in the conclave must leave their mobile phones behind them at the start of the conclave. All have sworn to keep the election of the ballot, under penalty of excommunication. Note that all the staff working in the area (maintenance agents, cooks, doctors, etc.) also took this oath, swearing to unhook anything. Employees will have to sleep in the Vatican and will not have contact with their families throughout the duration of the conclave.
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The cardinals will be housed at Maison Sainte-Marthe, within the Cité du Vatican, and can only move by using “a protected route”. Their rooms are allocated by draw while special arrangements were made in the residence with installation of partitions, temporary doors, but also the closure of several windows to eliminate opposite.
The headquarters of the Sistine Chapel, the only way to communicate
The Sistine Chapel chimney, which will be scrutinized by the eyes of the whole world from the start of the conclave, was installed this Friday, May 2. It is by this metal cylinder that will be indicated, after each ballot, if the cardinals managed to agree on a name to designate the new pope.
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Two stoves are connected to the fireplace. The first date of 1939 and served to burn the ballots at the end of each round. The second was installed in 2005, the year of the death of John Paul II, and is used to burn the chemical additives that color smoke: black if the new pope is not yet designated, and white if the choice has been arrested.
