And so it begins.
The world’s most secretive ceremony to select a new Pope is underway, almost two weeks after Francis was buried.
Never will a chimney have so many eyes fixed upon it awaiting what colour smoke will billow.
That tiny chimney, installed by firefighters just last week, is of course the one on the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
Inside, more than a hundred Cardinals will scrutinise and mull over who will be the new leader of the Catholic Church.
The private election process will only end when a new pontiff has been chosen.
The longest conclave in history lasted nearly three years, while it took two days for Pope Francis to be elected.
Meanwhile, those participating are sworn to secrecy.
They cannot take any phones, recording devices or communication equipment with them – they are effectively sealed off from the outside world…
When does voting start?
The conclave opened on the afternoon of Wednesday May 7.
The cardinals first gathered in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace at 4.15pm and invoked the assistance of the Holy Spirit to make their choice.
The cardinal electors leaving the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace towards the Sistine Chapel, before the conclave for the election of the new pope began
Vatican workmen installing the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel last week
What the chimney looks like from inside the chapel
They proceeded at 4.30pm to the Sistine Chapel, where the election will be held and which will have been swept for secret recording devices.
There are two pairs of votes per day – morning and afternoon – until a new pope has been elected.
What happens during the voting?
The electors cast paper ballots, and voting continues until one candidate receives a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes.
If no one has secured two-thirds of the votes, there is no winner and the electors move straight on to another round.
For most of the past century, it has taken between three and eight ballots to find a pope.
It will be used to communicate to the world whether a new Pope has been chosen
Workers installed the chimney on May 2 ahead of Conclave
Cardinals vote for their chosen candidate, and if there is no majority, the ballots are burnt with additives giving off either black or white smoke
Cardinals during a holy mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff, prior to the start of the conclave, at St Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican, on May 7
John Paul I – the pope who reigned for 33 days – was elected on the third ballot in 1978.
His successor, St. John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
So what does the black and white smoke mean?
Black smoke means voting is ongoing.
White smoke means a new Pope has been chosen and accepted his role – Habemus Papam.
News that a Pope has – or hasn’t been elected – will be relayed to the world via the chimney.
Chemicals are used colour the smoke and there is a stove with a fan that makes the smoke more visible.
Black smoke emerges from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel as cardinals voted on March 13, 2013
Hours later… white smoke rises from the chimney on March 13, 2013
A new Pope! Newly elected Pope Francis appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after being elected in 2013
The black smoke in 2005 that indicated that the cardinals gathered in the Conclave had not chosen the new pontiff
How the world was told Pope Benedict had been chosen as the new pontiff in April 2005
The election of Pope John Paul II announced by the billowing of white smoke from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel in 1978
The stove is activated electronically but the Vatican says it has been tested and it is prepared for last-minute technical difficulties.
‘One of our expert technicians, locked in the conclave, will remain for the entire duration of the voting in a small technical room near the Sistine Chapel with the stove’s remote control,’ Silvio Screpanti, Vatican City’s deputy director of infrastructure, said in an interview ahead of the conclave.
He or she will be ‘ready to intervene promptly if necessary, so that no unforeseen event hinders the famous and long-awaited white smoke’, he told the Vatican City State website.
The ritual of the smoke is ancient.
In 1274, at the Second Council of Lyons, Pope Gregory X, determined the procedure for holding a conclave and it continued from then on.
Black smoke shows no Pope yet in June, 1963 before Pope Paul VI was eventually elected
The white smoke that filled the air when Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939
Who will be the next Pope?
Here are the top contenders to become the next Supreme Pontiff…
Peter Turkson, 76
Cardinal Turkson would be the first black pope
The former Bishop of the Cape Coast, would be the first black Pope and would have the appeal of reaching out to Africa.
Born in Ghana, he was sent by Pope Francis as a peace envoy to South Sudan. He occupies the middle ground on the tricky subject of gay relationships, arguing that laws in many African countries are too harsh but that the views of Africans on the subject must be respected.
Turkson was the bookies’ favourite at one point during the 2013 conclave, when Francis was chosen.
Luis Antonio Tagle, 67
Tagle is a frontrunner this time round and is considered one of the more liberal candidates
Tagle, the former Archbishop of Manila, has emerged as the frontrunner in the betting markets.
He would have the appeal of being the first Asian Pope, the region with the fastest-growing Catholic population.
He has opposed abortion rights in the Philippines but would be considered one of the more liberal candidates.
He has complained that the Catholic church has been too harsh towards gay and divorced couples, and that this has hampered its evangelical work.
Pietro Parolin, 70
Parolin has worked closely with Pope Francis but has upset some with his views on China
He is the closest to a ‘continuity candidate’, having worked with Pope Francis as Cardinal Secretary of State.
He is seen as a moderate, though not as close to the liberal wing as Francis has sometimes appeared to be.
When Ireland voted in 2015 to legalise same sex marriage, Parolin described it as ‘a defeat for humanity’. In recent times, Parolin’s star has fallen a little thanks to his being the architect of the 2018 agreement between the Holy See and China, which some regard as a sell-out to the Chinese Communist Party.
Peter Erdo, 72
From the Eastern bloc, Erdo is a deep conservative and has spoken against divorced or remarried Catholics receiving holy communion
The Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest would be the second Pope, after John Paul II, to have administered in the former Soviet bloc, when church leaders were often persecuted.
He campaigned for his predecessor Jozsef Minszenty to be exonerated after being arrested for opposing Hungary‘s communist regime.
Erdo is a deep conservative who has spoken against divorced or remarried Catholics receiving holy communion.
Jose Tolentino, 59
At 59, Tolentino is regarded as the ‘relative youth’ candidate and has held down several Vatican roles
Not to be confused with the US baseball player of the same name, and usually carries the suffix ‘de Mendonca’ to distinguish himself.
Hailing from Cristiano Ronaldo‘s birth place of Madeira, Portugal, he has served as an Archbishop as well as held down a number of Vatican roles.
As the – relative – youth candidate, he has advocated that biblical scholars engage with the modern world by watching films and listening to music.
Matteo Zuppi, 69
Zuppi was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019 and is the Vatican Peace Envoy to Ukraine
Zuppi has been Archbishop of Bologna since 2015 and was appointed a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019.
Two years ago, the Pope made him the Vatican peace envoy for Ukraine, in which capacity he visited Moscow to ‘encourage gestures of humanity’.
While he didn’t have an audience with Putin, he did meet the president’s controversial ally Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, but with little diplomatic progress to show for his efforts.
Mario Grech, 68
Cardinal Grech has played a key role in advancing Pope Francis’s vision for a more inclusive and participatory Church
Maltese Grech, and has previously served as the Bishop of Gozo and is now the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.
He has called for the church to ‘learn a new language’ when dealing with gay couples and divorcees, although is also seen as something of a traditionalist.
Robert Sarah, 79
Conservative cardinal Sarah has denounced gender ideology as a threat to society
Born in French Guinea, Sarah is another possibility as the first black pope – although age is not on his side.
He has been working in Vatican positions since the time of John Paul II.
A conservative, he has denounced gender ideology as a threat to society. He has also spoken out against Islamic fundamentalism.
Vincent Nichols, 79
He was once a little boy who wanted to be a lorry driver and received his calling to the priesthood while watching his beloved Liverpool FC from the Kop at Anfield.
But now Britain’s top Catholic is said to stand an outside chance of succeeding Pope Francis – and becoming the first English Pontiff since the 12th century.
Liverpool-born Cardinal Vincent Nichols has been Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales since 2009.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who is said to stand an outside chance of succeeding Pope Francis
He was made a Cardinal in 2014. The clergyman, 79, was ordained over 55 years ago and originally served in his home city before becoming Archbishop of Birmingham in 2000, prior to being given the UK’s top job.
In more recent years, Pope Francis appointed him to wider roles including being president of the Santa Marta group, an alliance of Catholic bishops and police chiefs around the world, launched in 2014.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .