How the papal conclave elects a new pope 

The mysteries and intrigue of the conclave to elect a new pope were popularised in last year’s Oscar-nominated film starring Ralph Fiennes.

Edward Berger’s film imagined the tension, bureaucracy, twists and turns that come when the leaders of the Catholic Church gather behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel.

Ancient ritual

The Catholic College of Cardinals convening to elect a new pope is one of the oldest methods of electing a head of state that remains in use to the present day.

While the voting for the pope is billed as secret, with each cardinal guided only by his faith in God, Berger’s film explored how the process can be an exercise in consensus-building that cements fidelity to the Church’s new leader among the inner circle.

The papal election resembles how decisions were made in Europe some 700 years ago, before elected monarchies were replaced by hereditary monarchies, according to Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, professor of politics at New York University.

Candidates

Cardinals are bishops and Vatican officials from all over the world, personally chosen by the pope and recognisable by their distinctive red vestments.

Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in a conclave – they are known as the cardinal electors, and their number is limited to 120.

Women are barred from the priesthood, and therefore from becoming pope, in the Catholic Church – with the ban based on the belief that Jesus chose only men to be his apostles.

For the conclave itself, the electors proceed to the Sistine Chapel and take an oath of absolute secrecy before sealing the doors.

The unofficial term for potential candidates is Papabile, with Berger’s film featuring a number of ideologically distinct potential popes, including a Canadian moderate, a Nigerian candidate with conservative social views, and a little-known Mexican archbishop working in Afghanistan.

The popular saying among Vaticanologists, “He who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal,” reflects how the favoured candidate may not always win.

The failure of Stanley Tucci’s character, Cardinal Aldo Bellini, to gain election despite being the early favourite was reportedly based on Carlo Maria Martini’s experiences during the 2005 papal conclave.

The ballot

Four rounds of balloting are taken every day until a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote.

Berger’s film, based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, portrays how the cardinals vote by secret ballot, processing one by one up to Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment, saying a prayer and dropping the twice-folded ballot in a large chalice.

The result of each ballot is counted aloud and recorded by three cardinals.

If no-one receives the necessary two-thirds of the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove near the chapel with a mixture of chemicals to produce black smoke.

The process can go to multiple rounds with the same people, theoretically getting the same number of votes each time as cardinals wait to see who loses support first.

But slowly, cardinals who voted for someone who only received a very small number of votes are likely to add their vote to one of the stronger candidates in the next round.

Factions may be able to make their views known during informal chats between votes, with key parts of Berger’s film showing heated discussions among cardinals in the canteens and cinemas of the Vatican.

The result

When a cardinal receives the necessary two-thirds vote, the dean of the College of Cardinals asks him if he accepts his election.

If he accepts, he chooses a papal name and is dressed in papal vestments before processing out to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.

The ballots of the final round are burned with chemicals producing white smoke to signal to the world the election of a new pope.

The senior cardinal deacon announces from the balcony of St Peter’s “Habemus Papam” (“We have a pope”) before the new pope proceeds out and imparts his blessing on the city of Rome and the world.