This photograph shows a giant screen depicting late Pope Francis and reading "This evening at 7:30 PM in Saint Peter's Square, a Rosary will be recited in suffrage of Pope Francis" on St Peter's square, following his death, in the Vatican on April 21, 2025. Alberto Pizzoli, AFP

Summoning the cardinals is the first step to a series of ancient rituals governing the secretive process of electing a new pope — the Conclave.  

All cardinals must answer the call.  

Upon the death or resignation of the pope, the dean of the College of Cardinals (currently Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re) will inform the cardinals and call them to Rome.  

According to “Universi Dominici Gregis,” the apostolic constitution governing the vacancy of the Holy See and the election of the Roman Pontiff, all cardinals, except those impeded by illness and other circumstances, must travel to Rome.  

While only cardinals below 80 years old are allowed to vote in a Conclave, all cardinals must join the meetings as well as the prayers and other activities concerning the “papal interregnum” meaning “between the reigns” of two popes.  

The Conclave must begin no earlier than 15 days after the death of the pope.  

However, this rule was modified by Benedict XVI when he resigned in 2013. He mandated that the Conclave may begin earlier if all the cardinal electors are already in Rome. This is because there was no papal funeral, and the Church was not in the period of mourning.  

The exact date of the beginning of the Conclave will be agreed upon by the cardinals in their meetings called General Congregations.  

In the 2005 Conclave that elected Benedict XVI, then 76-year-old Jaime Cardinal Sin was too ill to travel to Rome and thus unable to participate in the voting. The Filipino cardinal passed away five months after.  

READ: Pope Francis, beloved ‘Lolo Kiko’ to Filipinos, has passed away

READ: Pope Francis' death at 88 prompts worldwide mourning

PREPARATORY STAGE 

The General Congregations will be held daily. The start of such meetings will be determined by the cardinal camerlango (currently Cardinal Kevin Farrell) and a senior cardinal from each of the three orders among the electors: cardinal deacons, cardinal priests, and cardinal bishops.  

It is during these meetings that cardinals discuss the pressing issues confronting the Catholic Church. This is also a chance for them to get to know each other prior to the actual voting.  

Days before the Conclave, cardinals are also usually seen going to their respective titular churches around Rome, sometimes to celebrate the Holy Mass or even meet the local parishioners.  

Each cardinal will be given a copy of the apostolic constitution and is given the chance to clarify the norms governing it.  

Other logistical details will also be discussed, including finances, lodgings of the cardinals, and the preparation inside the Sistine Chapel where the voting will take place.  

Once the date of the start of the Conclave is determined, all cardinals will gather in the morning for the Missa Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice (Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff) inside the Saint Peter's Basilica, which will be presided by the dean of the College of Cardinals.    

CONCLAVE BEGINS 

All the cardinal electors will gather in the afternoon inside the Pauline Chapel at the Apostolic Palace.  

Beginning with a prayer, the cardinals will then march toward the Sistine Chapel while chanting the Litany of Saints.  

At this point, the cardinals will be led by their dean. However, if the dean is already 80 years of age or above, the vice dean will take over the presiding role. If both the dean and the vice dean are no longer eligible to attend the Conclave, the responsibility will be passed on to the next most senior member of the College of Cardinals.  

At present, both Cardinal Re, the dean, and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the vice dean, are non-electors.  

After the singing of "Veni Creator Spiritus," a prayer invoking the Holy Spirit, each cardinal will publicly take their oath of secrecy underneath Michaelangelo's famed frescoes of the Last Judgment with one hand touching the book of Gospels.  

The oath is read aloud in Latin: 

“Et ego [given name] Cardinalis [surname] spondeo, voveo ac iuro. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec Sancta Dei Evangelia, quae manu mea tango.” 

(And I, [given name] Cardinal [surname], promise, pledge, and swear. So help me God and these Holy Gospels that I touch with my hand.) 

After more prayers, the master of papal ceremonies (at present Archbishop Diego Ravelli), utters the famous words, "extra omnes," Latin for "everybody out."    

If the Conclave begins in the afternoon, there will only be one voting round.  

The next days, there will be two voting in the morning and another two in the afternoon. This would go on until a candidate receives two-thirds of the votes.    

READ: What we know following the death of Pope Francis

THE VOTING PROCESS 

Hundreds of Catholic faithful attend a requiem Mass in honor of Pope Francis in Manila, led by Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula, at the Manila Cathedral on April 22, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Cardinals will write the name of their chosen candidate on a rectangular shaped ballot paper handed to them before voting.  

On the upper half of the ballot paper are the words: “Eligo in Summum Pontificem” (I elect as Supreme Pontiff). Each cardinal must write the name of their chosen candidate on the lower half of the ballot.”  

During this part of the Conclave, all other persons allowed to enter the Sistine Chapel — the Secretary of the College of Cardinals, the master of papal ceremonies and other masters of ceremonies — must exit.  

Each cardinal will then carry their ballot to the altar, hold it up so it is visible to all other cardinals, and place it in a receptacle.  

Upon reaching the altar, the cardinal will then say: “Estor Christum Dominum, qui me iudicaturus est, me eum eligere, quem secundum Deum iudico eligi debere.” 

(I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.) 

After all the cardinals are able to cast their vote, the assigned scrutineers will check the ballots. If the number of ballots does not correspond to the number of electors. The vote is considered null, and all the ballots will be burned.  

If no one was able to obtain two-thirds of the votes, it means no pope is elected.  

And 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.  

The apostolic constitution also prescribed that if the cardinals are still unable to elect a pope for three days, voting will be suspended for a maximum of one day.  

The cardinals will then pause for a prayer and a brief spiritual exhortation given by the senior cardinal in the order of deacons. The electors are also allowed to have informal discussions among themselves.  

Nonetheless, all forms of communication outside the Conclave are forbidden.  

Breaking the laws of secrecy of the Conclave merits automatic excommunication. 

READ: As world mourns, cardinals prepare pope's funeral

ACCEPTING THE ROLE 

Once a candidate gathers the necessary two thirds vote, he is asked by the cardinal dean or the most senior cardinal elector: “Acceptasne electionem de te canonice factam in Summum Pontificem?” (Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?) 

If the cardinal accepts the vote, he is once again asked: “Quo nomine vis vocari?” (By what name do you wish to be called?) 

At that moment, he officially becomes the pope.  

“After his acceptance, the person elected, if he has already received episcopal ordination, is immediately Bishop of the Church of Rome, true Pope and Head of the College of Bishops. He thus acquires and can exercise full and supreme power over the universal Church,” the apostolic constitution stated.  

If the person elected is not a bishop, he will first be ordained to the episcopate. This is because all baptized male Catholics are eligible to be elected as pope. However, this has not happened for centuries. So far, the cardinals have elected one of their own to the papacy.  

Each cardinal will then approach the new pope to make an act of homage and obedience.  

The new pope will be vested into his papal cassock prepared ahead of the Conclave in three sizes.  

Traditionally, the tailors from “Gammarelli” produce the pope's vestments.  

The vesting takes place inside what has been called the "Room of Tears," an antechamber of the Sistine Chapel. It was said to be named as such to reference the tears of a newly elected pope feeling the weight of responsibility that has befallen him.  

HABEMUS PAPAM  

After all the prescribed prayers and ceremonies are completed, the senior cardinal deacon then comes out at the Saint Peter Basilica's central loggia to announce that a new pope is elected.  

The announcement of "Habemus Papam" (We have a pope!) has been an iconic moment throughout the history of papacy.  

In full, the cardinal deacon declares the name of the cardinal elected as pope and the official papal name.  

The announcement goes as follows: 

“Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: habemus Papam... 

Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum [first name] Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem [surname] qui sibi nomen imposuit [papal name].” 

(I announce to you a great joy: we have a pope... the most eminent and most revered lord, Lord [first name] cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [surname] who has taken the name [chosen papal name]).  

The new pope will then present himself in the logia to impart the apostolic blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and to the world).