From Hollywood to Holy See: Beyond the smoke and sealed doors of conclave
What really happens inside the Sistine Chapel
On May 7, cardinals from around the world will file into the Sistine Chapel for an event that will feature no phones, laptops or contact with the outside world: the conclave.
At its core, a conclave is an election to find the next pope to lead the Catholic Church. It has its own set of peculiarities that distinguish it from the types of polls that most people are used to, for our presidents, governments and representatives.
The process holds a certain mystique for election-watchers. The chapel, famously painted by Michelangelo and one of the most visited sites in Europe, is sealed while the cardinals are inside for the voting. The word for the election, conclave, comes from the Latin ‘cum’ and ‘clavis’, meaning ‘with key’.
Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote. This means that of the 252 current cardinals, only 135 are eligible electors. The Holy See press office confirmed that two of them will not be present due to health issues — they are Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares and Kenyan Cardinal John Njue. Another one, Italian Cardinal Becciu, bowed out “for the good of the church” after he was convicted in the Vatican of embezzlement, which he denies and is appealing.
For this conclave, there is another anomaly: a third sick cardinal has decided to partake in the process but will do so from his room in Casa Santa Marta, the accommodation for the visiting prelates. In the conclave constitution, there are provisions for this type of voting, which involves three other cardinals visiting the room each time to collect the vote.
As for everyone else, the cardinals inside the room write their choice for pope on white sheets, which are then counted by officials for the secret ballot. Afterwards, the papers are burned in a special stove. If no one has reached the number to be elected pope, black smoke is released from a chimney that stretches outdoors, signalling to the world that no decision has yet been made.
After several rounds of voting, and only when a two-thirds majority is reached, white smoke is sent up the chimney. The ‘fumata’ dates back to the early 20th century, and these days, it’s coloured using a mixture of chemicals — potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur for black, and potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin for white. Usually, crowds gather in St Peter’s Square to follow proceedings by watching the colour of the fumes.
Here is everything you need to know about the conclave.
Conclave's enduring legacy
Vatican City is a theocratic absolute elective monarchy, and the papal conclave is the oldest method of electing a head of state that is still in use today. Its origins go right back to the early Christian church, but it started to look more like it does today after a series of reforms were introduced in the Middle Ages amid concerns around political interference.
Despite the fact that elections of some kind were taking place for at least 1,000 years, the formal rules we know today were not codified until the 20th century.
The history of papal succession features plenty of controversy. In 217 AD, a schism led to the election of rival popes (also known as antipopes), a phenomenon that repeated itself about a thousand years later when French and Italian factions in the church grappled for control. Over the centuries, emperors took a role in the elections and even installed candidates, until finally, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated to be the sole body of electors.
In the 1200s, the death of Pope Clement IV sparked a three-year-long conclave which led to more formalised rules for electing. In modern times, the entire process has run more smoothly. Typical conclaves rarely take more than a few days; Pope Francis was elected in 2013 by the end of the first full day of voting.
In the 1970s, the new rule was introduced to limit the voters to cardinals under the age of 80. It didn’t take long for the new rules to come into use: 1978 became known as the year of three popes, with two conclaves taking place after the newly-elected John Paul I died just 33 days into his reign.
Hollywood vs. Holy reality: Unpacking the accuracy of the 'Conclave' film
While there is always a lot of interest in the papal conclave, there is a heightened awareness of the process this year thanks to a very recent, and very popular, film.
The political thriller 'Conclave’, directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, was a hit at the box office upon its 2024 release. It only grew in popularity months later, when Pope Francis fell ill, prompting heightened anticipation for a new conclave.
Based on a novel by Robert Harris, ‘Conclave’ brought viewers perhaps the closest look yet at the process to elect a pope. From the sealing of the dead pope’s apartment, to the threading of ballots onto a string as they’re counted, to the surprise appearance of a secret cardinal — what did the filmmakers get wrong about this most ancient of votes?
SRF’s religion editor, Nicole Freudiger, examined the details in the film and separated fact from fiction.
Some of the assertions made in the film were also studied by Zoé Aucaigne from France Télévisions, including that cardinals do not announce themselves as candidates.
This is true, according to Daniel Gallagher, an expert who worked in the secretariat of both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and interviewed by Aucaigne. “It's practically taboo to say that you want to be pope … It's likely that some will ask their supporters what they think of their 'papable' potential, but it will never be said publicly. In any case, we have no contemporary examples.”
There’s also a scene that sees the late pope’s living quarters sealed off with a red ribbon. This is true, and can be seen in footage released by the Holy See press office after the death of Pope Francis.
End of days? The fake 'Black Pope' Nostradamus claim
Grégoire Ryckmans from Belgium’s RTBF Faky investigated circulating prophetic quotes attributed to Nostradamus that suggested the arrival in 2025 of a “black pope” described as a “man with ebony skin” and a “female surname”.
One of the cardinals set to partake in the conclave, the conservative Robert Sarah, fits the literal description. He is a Guinean prelate whose surname can also be a feminine first name.
However, Ryckmans found that while Nostradamus did discuss papal succession in his 16th-century prophecies, none of those elements were included. They are part of a broader theory about the advent of a “black pope” and the beginning of the end of days.
We also found evidence of the “black pope” theory in circulation when Pope Francis died, although it wasn’t necessarily a reference to the skin colour of the incoming pope, and more broadly thought to mean the one who would usher in the “Antichrist”. It is also used as a nickname for the head of the Jesuit order. Given that Pope Francis was a Jesuit, it is highly likely that similar theories swirled when he was elected pope.
RTBF’s Ryckmans writes that the “black pope” theory has rekindled apocalyptic theories about a critical turning point for the Catholic Church, the end of the papacy, and even the end of times.
“Nostradamus's original writings, such as ‘The Prophecies’, published in 1555, are written in a mixture of languages (such as Old French, Greek, Latin, and Provençal) in the form of quatrains (four-line stanzas), often very vague. They are symbolic and ambiguous. These writings very rarely contain dates, and the time references tend to refer more to astrological configurations that require interpretation,” Ryckmans writes.
Nostradamus never mentions the year 2025 in his works, and none of his texts mention the “ebony-skinned man”, the “female surname”, nor the “imminent obsolescence of Catholicism”, like people claimed.
From oath to white smoke: Key events in the Papal conclave timeline
Wednesday morning
On May 7, the conclave period will open with a Mass at 10 a.m. “for the election of the Roman Pontiff” in St Peter’s Basilica.
Wednesday afternoon
At 4:30 p.m., the cardinals will walk in a solemn procession from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel, where the electors will take an oath to faithfully serve as pope if elected. They will also take a pledge to secrecy around everything related to the election, and promise not to support any external interference attempts.
Anyone still in the room who is not part of the conclave has to then leave the chapel, and the only two people allowed to stay back are the clergymen who will deliver a meditation for the electing cardinals, before they too exit the chapel.
When it’s just the electing cardinals left, there are some more prayers, and then the voting can begin.
On the first day, there will only be one round of voting before it wraps up.
Subsequent days
Two sessions for voting will be held per day, with two ballots in the morning and two in the afternoon, totalling four votes per day. A Vatican source indicated that the votes would be burned and black smoke released after each session as opposed to after every vote — so, a smoke release close to lunchtime and another in the evening. The situation involving the ill cardinal voting from his room in Casa Santa Marta may delay the vote-counting process.
If the conclave goes on for more than three days, a break of up to a day is allowed. This would facilitate prayer as well as time for the voting cardinals to freely discuss the ballot. They would also pause voting on Sunday, should it last into the weekend. In all this time, the cardinals would still have no contact with the outside world, and would be unable to send or receive messages, phone calls, news reports or any other material, except in urgent cases.
If no result comes after several blocks of voting days, a type of run-off can be held in which the two top-polling candidates would still be in the running, and would themselves be exempt from voting.
When a two-thirds majority is reached for one candidate, he will be elected pope.
When the new pope is elected
The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, will ask the pope-elect: “Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?” With his consent, he will then ask: “What name do you wish to be called?”
There is no provision for the man elected pope to say “no” to the job. Historic instances have involved cardinals explicitly stating that they would not accept before it gets too close to an election.
The Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations and two witnesses will immediately draft the document of acceptance, and write down the chosen name.
The bells of St Peter’s Basilica will ring, and white smoke will stream out of the chimney, alerting the crowd outside.
From this moment, the conclave will be over and the new pope will immediately acquire supreme authority over the church. The other cardinals will pledge obedience to the new pope.
The new pope will immediately prepare for the announcement to the world. Normally, this involves the Cardinal Protodeacon taking to the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to announce: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam.” (“I announce to you a great joy: We have a Pope.”) The current Protodeacon is French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti.
The new pope will then appear on the balcony, and give an Urbi et Orbi blessing to the gathered crowds.
After his inauguration, the new pope will formally take possession of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran. The Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano is actually the highest-ranking of the four papal basilicas in Rome – including St Peter’s Basilica.