Although the deliberations that end in the choice of a recent pope are shrouded in secrecy, the actual process is kind of well-known.
Officially the one requirements that one must fulfil in an effort to be pope are that one is a male member of the Roman Catholic Church.
While this could open the office to a startlingly large variety of candidates, practically speaking, the brand new pope is almost all the time a serving cardinal.
Who will select the subsequent pope?
It is the College of Cardinals that’s the important thing body in determining who the subsequent pope will likely be. The College presently incorporates 252 cardinals, of whom 135 are capable of vote within the conclave that can select the subsequent pope.
Only cardinals who’re under the age of 80 are permitted to vote within the election. At the 2013 conclave that chosen Pope Francis two cardinals who would otherwise be eligible didn’t participate, one attributable to health reasons and the opposite attributable to his admission of sexual misconduct.
When will the election be and the way long will it take?
The conclave to elect the pope often takes place 15 to twenty days after the death of Pope Francis and the method will likely go on for a number of days. There have been instances through which it took years for a recent pope to be chosen.
How does the vote work?
All deliberations are conducted in complete secrecy, with cardinals effectively cut off from the surface world.
During votes, cardinals will write the name of their preferred candidate on a chunk of paper and place it in a special ballot box. If one candidate receives two-thirds of the votes, they will likely be elected pope.
Otherwise one other round of voting will happen. Unlike secular voting systems there isn’t any immediate “run-off” process where lower ranked candidates are officially eliminated. Effectively they keep voting until someone wins.
What is the business with the smoke?
After an unsuccessful election the ballots will likely be burned and black smoke released, signalling to the surface world that a pope has not yet been chosen.
Once a pope has been elected, the ballots are burned and white smoke is released, signifying the start of a recent papal reign.
 Although the deliberations that end in the choice of a recent pope are shrouded in secrecy, the actual process is kind of well-known....){kind=link}