The rituals surrounding the election of a pope are centuries old.
All cardinals under the age of 80 have the right to elect the pope. There are currently 135 of them, including two Croatians, Vinko Puljić and Josip Bozanić.
After the death or resignation of the pope, the cardinals meet in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where they are sworn to secrecy and isolated from the outside world. The name conclave comes from the Latin phrase cum clave (under key).
Isolated cardinals can debate the merits of likely candidates. Open campaigning is not permitted, but it "remains a highly political process," the BBC writes.
The election is conducted through a series of secret ballots, with each cardinal elector writing the name of their choice on a piece of paper.
A two-thirds majority is required to elect a pope.
Four rounds of voting are held each day until one person receives the required two-thirds majority.
Ballots are burned after each session, emitting smoke that can be seen by observers in St. Peter's Square and beyond.
If the smoke is black, the cardinals have not reached a decision. White smoke indicates that a new pope has been elected.
What is a conclave?
The group of cardinals who make up the conclave that elects the next pope is "truly the world's most powerful electoral body" relative to its size, the Financial Times writes.
Francis, the first non-European pope since the eighth century, largely shaped the choice of his successor. Of the 138 cardinals under the age of 80, the vast majority were appointed by him.
The total number of cardinal electors should technically be limited to 120, but Francis is not the first pope to exceed that limit.
Most cardinals will not know much about the future papal candidates before the conclave. The election of a pope is not like a vote for political leadership, where candidates publicly state their positions and publicly scrutinize each other, often "ad nauseam" (until disgust).
A smaller portion of the conclave will be made up of cardinals from the Roman Curia, which helps the pope govern the Church, while the vast majority are archbishops "from the field," from dioceses around the world.
The current elective college of cardinals lacks representatives from some large and traditional cardinal sees, such as the archdiocese of Milan and Los Angeles, which Francis bypassed in favor of archbishops from the 'periphery' who reflect his pastoral orientation and concern for the poor.
Thus, there will be more Latin American, African and Asian cardinals in the College of Cardinals, and fewer curial, Italian and European cardinals than usual.
Photo: EPA/GREGORIO BORGIA/POOL POOL PHOTO
