The cardinals responsible for electing the pope will lock himself from Wednesday, May 7 in the Sistine Chapel for a conclave responsible for designating, in the greatest secrecy, the successor of François. More than two weeks after the death of Jorge Bergoglio, who died of a stroke on April 21, the 133 cardinals voters from 70 countries will launch this extremely codified ceremonial and followed with attention by some 1.4 billion Catholics.
Prelude to this ancestral ritual, the cardinals will participate at 10 a.m. in a solemn mass in the Saint-Pierre basilica, chaired by the dean of the Cardinalice college, the Italian Giovanni Battista Re. The afternoon will follow a prayer in the Pauline chapel, which adjoins sixtine, at 4:30 p.m.
The countdown will truly start around 5 p.m., with the entry into procession of cardinals in a sixtine chapel with drastic isolation: no mobile phone will be authorized and the telecommunications networks will be cut between the walls of the city of Vatican.
-A very solemn setting
Having taken an oath not to reveal anything about exchanges, under penalty of excommunication, they will then lock themselves in the building, once the Latin phrase Outside all! (Outside, all!) Pronounced by the master of liturgical celebrations. A video broadcast Tuesday by the Vatican makes it possible to measure the solemnity of the frame: double row of tables covered with heavy fabric, needle to unravel the bulletins, nominative places indicated by a bridge and red flap sub-maits struck by the weapons of the Holy See.
Wednesday evening will take place a first vote, the result of which will probably not be known before 7 p.m. This first round allowing to gauge the forces present, it is unlikely that the majority of two thirds, that is to say 89 votes, is already reached. A first black smoke should therefore escape from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
The election should continue on Thursday, with two laps scheduled during the morning session and two others in the afternoon. New polls will take place the following days if the cardinals fail to elect a pope quickly.
