What’s happening when? A conclave watcher’s guide

Here’s a brief guide to what to expect in the coming days.

The complex, carefully choreographed process of electing a new pope has entered a decisive phase.

The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Dr pangloss via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

As a papal transition happens only roughly once a decade, even Catholics who have lived through previous interregnums can feel confused about precisely what happens when after the cardinals enter the conclave.

Here’s a brief guide to what to expect in the coming days.

Cardinals attend Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26, 2025. © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk.

Tuesday, May 6

On Tuesday, 173 cardinals, including 130 of the 133 electors, attended the 12th and final general congregation of the College of Cardinals following the death of Pope Francis.

As at the previous 11 meetings, cardinals addressed the assembly on the qualities they wished to see in the next pope. (Not all of the 26 speeches were laser-focused on the conclave; one apparently tackled the burning issue of “the proximity of the Solemnity of Christ the King and the World Day of the Poor,” which both fall in November.)

From Tuesday evening, cardinals will begin to enter the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis’ former residence, opened in 1996 to provide cardinals with tolerable accommodation during conclaves. Given the historically large number of cardinal-electors, some may need to stay in nearby buildings within the Vatican’s secure conclave zone.

Wednesday, May 7

All cardinals are expected to have taken up residence within the secure zone by 10 a.m. Rome time (4 a.m. Eastern Time). That’s when Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at a Mass pro eligendo Pontifice (for the election of the Roman Pontiff) in St. Peter’s Basilica. Re was also the principal celebrant at Pope Francis’ April 26 funeral.

The Vatican has released a booklet, in English, Italian, and Latin, to enable Catholics worldwide to follow along via a live stream. A closely scrutinized part of the Mass will be Cardinal Re’s homily, in which he is expected to reflect on the task ahead of the cardinals and perhaps on the kind of man they should be looking to elect. At some previous conclaves, this has been an influential moment in the election process.

The cardinals will not head immediately into the Sistine Chapel after the Mass and begin to vote. Instead, they will gather at the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel at 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET), then process into the conclave to the sound of the litany of saints and the “Veni, Creator Spiritus.” This often stirring event can also be followed as it happens via a booklet (in Italian and Latin) and live stream.

Once assembled beneath Michelangelo’s ceiling, the cardinals will swear a secrecy oath one by one, with their hand on a Book of the Gospels.

They will say: “And I, N. Cardinal N., do so promise, pledge and swear. So help me God and these Holy Gospels which I touch with my hand.”

This is how it looked at the 2013 conclave:

Note that the Sistine Chapel’s marble mosaic floor is covered to prevent wear and tear.

After the last cardinal has taken the oath, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, will say: “Extra omnes.” All those not directly involved in the conclave leave the chapel.

With Ravelli still present, a churchman elected in accordance with the 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis will offer a meditation on the “very grave task” awaiting the electors.

This will be Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher Emeritus of the Papal Household. (At 90, he is too old to vote.)

When the meditation ends, Cantalamessa and Ravelli will leave the Sistine Chapel. The doors will swing shut and guards will take up their places at all the chapel’s entrances. The chapel will have been swept for surveillance devices and military-grade signal jammers will be activated.

Cardinal Re, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, is 91 years old and unable to vote. Acting in Re’s place, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the most senior cardinal bishop under the age of 80, will confirm that the cardinals are ready to begin the election process.

Lots will be drawn to select nine cardinals to perform three functions during ballots: three “scrutineers,” who will oversee the voting; three “infirmarii,” who will collect the votes of the sick; and three “revisers,” who will double-check votes.

The votes will be cast following a precise order, beginning with Cardinal Parolin and ending with Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad.

After the votes of the first ballot are counted, they will be burned in a stove. The stove is connected to a metal pipe that leads to a temporary chimney, made of steel and copper, on the chapel’s roof. There is a second stove connected to the same flue that burns chemical cartridges producing either black or white smoke.

Black smoke (fumata nera) indicates that no candidate has received the two-thirds majority of votes needed to be elected pope. White smoke (fumata bianca) signals the election of a pope. In practice, it can be unclear — at least initially — whether the smoke is black or white, though the chimney is equipped with fans intended to make the smoke visible to onlookers gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

To make it absolutely clear when a pope has been elected, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica will ring out — and there will be a mad scramble among pilgrims and journalists across Rome to reach the Vatican as quickly as possible.

Pope Francis’ election was signaled just after 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET), so may be worth checking in on Sistine Chapel chimney live streams at around that time.

The Sistine Chapel chimney emits black smoke during the 2005 conclave. Vdp via Wikimedia (Public Domain).

Thursday, May 8

Assuming no one was elected on the first ballot, as is usually the case, two votes will be held in the morning and two in the afternoon, according to Universi Dominici Gregis.

Vatican News says the cardinals will begin a regular daily conclave routine that starts at 7:45 a.m. Rome time with their departure from their lodgings to the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

At 8:15 a.m., they will celebrate Mass in the Pauline Chapel, then move to the Sistine Chapel at 9:15 a.m., for the day’s first round of voting.

Vatican News suggests that smoke signals may be seen after 10:30 a.m. Rome time (4:30 a.m. ET) and then, following the morning’s second vote, after noon Rome time (6 a.m. ET).

Universi Dominici Gregis states that if “a second vote is to take place immediately, the ballots from the first vote will be burned only at the end, together with those from the second vote.”

So the smoke will only appear around 10:30 a.m. if a pope has been elected. Otherwise, there will be no signal until after noon.

The voters will return to the Casa Santa Marta for lunch at 12:30 p.m.

Voting resumes at 4:30 p.m. in the Sistine Chapel. The smoke could appear following the day’s third ballot after 5:30 p.m. Rome time (11:30 a.m.) and after the fourth ballot at around 7 p.m. Rome time (1 p.m. ET), according to Vatican News.

Again, it would seem that according to Universi Dominici Gregis, the smoke would only appear at 5:30 p.m. if a pope were elected. Otherwise, it will emerge after the vote held immediately following, so around 7 p.m.

When voting is concluded for the day, the cardinals pray Vespers in the chapel and then return to their lodgings at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, May 9

Assuming no pope has been elected by this point — and that’s not unusual — two ballots will be held in the morning and two in the afternoon.

Saturday, May 10, and beyond

The rules governing conclaves say that if cardinal electors are struggling to agree on a candidate to be pope after three days of voting, the process should be suspended for a day.

This allows “a pause for prayer, informal discussion among the voters, and a brief spiritual exhortation given by the senior cardinal in the Order of Deacons.”

The senior cardinal deacon, also known as the protodeacon, is currently Cardinal Dominique Mamberti.

Voting then resumes. If seven ballots fail to produce consensus, there is another pause for prayer, discussion, and an exhortation by the senior cardinal-priest, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Cardinal Vinko Puljić.

If the cardinals continue casting votes without electing a pope, there is a final pause for prayer, talks, and a reflection by the senior cardinal-bishop, Cardinal Parolin.

After a further seven inconclusive ballots, cardinals will only be able to vote for the two top candidates from the previous round of voting. The two candidates themselves are not permitted to vote. One candidate must still gain a two-thirds majority of votes to become pope.

When a cardinal eventually receives the necessary 89 votes, he will be asked if he accepts his election as pope by the most senior cardinal present.

If he accepts, the senior cardinal asks him: “By what name do you wish to be called?”

The Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations then draws up a document recording the candidate’s acceptance of his election and the name he has chosen.

At that point, Universi Dominici Gregis says, “the person elected … is immediately Bishop of the Church of Rome, true Pope and Head of the College of Bishops.”

The ballots are burned, emitting the white smoke, and the bells of St. Peter’s ring.

The new pope changes into the white robes in a sideroom known as the Room of Tears. Back in the Sistine Chapel, the cardinal-electors approach the pope in an act of homage and obedience.

Following an act of thanksgiving, Cardinal Mamberti (assuming he is not elected pope himself) will walk out onto the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square and announce that the election has concluded.

He will say: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam! Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum [baptismal name], Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem [surname], qui sibi nomen imposuit [papal name].”

Or in English, “I announce to you a great joy: We have a Pope! The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord, Lord [baptismal name], Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [surname], who takes to himself the name [papal name].”

It can be hard to catch the new pope’s baptismal name and surname, as well as his papal name, over the crowd’s noise, so it’s worth double-checking immediately with an authoritative source such as Vatican News — or The Pillar.

The new pope then appears, gives a short address in Italian, and imparts his first apostolic blessing Urbi et Orbi (“to the city and the world”), in his new role as Bishop of Rome and leader of the Universal Church.

A plenary indulgence is available to Catholics who receive the blessing devoutly, either in person or via live broadcast, and fulfill the usual requirements of confession, Communion, and prayer for the pope’s intentions.

In the following days, the new pope will celebrate an inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square and formally take possession of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Rome diocese.