Conclave how does it work

Assuming the voting yielded no winner, the smoke will be black; a sign to the world that the Holy See remains vacant. That process will repeat itself beginning the next morning. After the first day, the cardinals will hold two rounds of voting per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with two ballots per round. Assuming the morning sessions are inconclusive, black smoke will be seen each day around the lunch hour in Rome -- barely breakfast time on the U.

East Coast. If there's still no vote winner following the afternoon balloting, more black smoke will stream into the Roman sky early in the evening. The longest conclave in history was the one which brought Pope Gregory X to the papacy in -- almost three years after the cardinals began their voting.

The most recent conclaves, however, have lasted on average only about two days. In the weeks leading up to the Conclave Vatican tailors get to work on creating three Papal robes in small, medium and large.

The new Pope is led into the Room of Tears adjacent to the Sistine Chapel where he dons his new white robes and red slippers. The voting process follows a set ritual every day until the Catholic Church has a new leader. Here is an approximate schedule. Local time listed first. If the vote yields a new pope, white smoke will emerge from the chimney; if not the smoke will be black. After three full days of voting, the cardinals break for a day of prayer and reflection, then resume for another seven ballots.

The first pause will be on Saturday if no pope has been selected before that. Smoke will emerge from the chimney once at the end of the morning session — about 12 p. But if an earlier vote yields a pope, white smoke would emerge at that time, ending the conclave.

Once white smoke emerges from the chimney, a bell at the St. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Adam Taylor and Walt Hickey. Today, after weeks of trepidation, the Vatican's papal conclave finally began. Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know. Loading Something is loading. They will eat meals and sleep in the nearby Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse, which has rooms equipped with queen-size beds, high speed Internet connections, telephones and large screen televisions.

However, the cardinals won't enjoy the electronic amenities as all connections with the outside world will be cut off. To ensure cardinals are not tempted to check their email, the Vatican has installed sophisticated jamming devices around the chapel to prevent any leaking.

In the unlikely event that a cardinal disobeys the vow on secrecy, he will be excommunicated, according to one of the last edicts signed by Pope Benedict before his abrupt resignation. In the past, a conclave offered much more severe conditions. Cardinals had to sleep in open dormitories - curtains between beds were not introduced until - and if no election was made within three days, only one meal a day was served.

If after eight days no pope was elected, the cardinals were to receive only bread and water. The longest conclave ever took two years, nine months and two days and ended with the election of Gregory X on Sept. Since the turn of the 20th century, the longest conclave lasted five days and produced Pope Pius XI in