Roman Catholic cardinals will meet in a secret conclave to elect the new leader of the global Church starting from May 7, the Vatican has confirmed.
The 16th-century Sistine Chapel, where conclaves are held, was closed to tourists on Monday to allow for preparations.
Cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote for Pope Francis’s successor, meaning some 135 from around the world are expected to participate in the highly secretive ballot. Francis, pope for 12 years, appointed nearly 80 per cent of the eligible cardinal electors.
A pope is elected when a candidate receives at least two-thirds of the eligible vote. Modern papal conclaves have stretched over more than one day and have involved multiple ballots.
Francis, who was buried after a funeral attended by world leaders and dignitaries on Saturday, was elected on the second day and on the fifth ballot of voting among Roman Catholic cardinals in 2013.
Since the 20th century, the longest conclaves were five days, for Pius X in 1903 and Pius XI in 1922. The later conclave saw 14 rounds of voting.
Francis, who died April 21 at age 88 after a series of health challenges, was the first pope elected from Latin America, and the first from the Jesuit order.
There has never been a pope from North America, Asia, Oceania or Africa.
