Is it black or white?
The “sede vacante” (“vacant See”) period following the death of Pope Francis is a time of great anticipation for many people around the world beyond the Catholic community.
As the conclave begins, viewers will be watching the colour of the chimney smoke at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, which will indicate whether the cardinals have chosen a new pontiff.
The smoke is produced by burning the ballots – rectangular pieces of paper in which cardinals will indicate their choice – in a stove after each voting round during the conclave, or gathering of the church’s senior officials to elect their new leader.
To ensure clarity, chemical cartridges will be used to generate the smoke colour and bells will ring to announce the election of a pope.
Black smoke means no candidate has received the two-thirds of votes required to be elected pope, while white smoke indicates the cardinals have selected a new head of the Catholic church. The elected individual must also have accepted his new role.
On the first day, cardinals will have one vote in the afternoon. If no candidate is elected, the process will continue until an individual receives a two-thirds majority. For each day, there will be two votes in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Even if you’re not in Rome, you can watch the developments from home through the livestream of the Sistine Chapel chimney at the Vatican.
The conclave is a secretive process. Cardinals voting inside the Sistine Chapel are forbidden from revealing anything about it or risk automatic excommunication. No recording devices are permitted during the process.
After the white smoke emerges, the senior cardinal deacon will declare “Habemus Papam!” (“We have a pope!”) The new pope will then introduce himself before blessing the crowd from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
With files from The Associated Press
