On May 7, in the smallest country in the world (Vatican City), 135 cardinals will vote to elect the head of the Catholic Church, who will represent 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. When they step into the Sistine Chapel, sealed away from the rest of the world, they will partake in the process of conclave—the mysterious and official practice of electing a pope that has been the tradition of the Church for nearly eight hundred years. The process of selecting the next Vicar of Christ has evolved considerably since the founding of the Church. Its purposeful secrecy heightens the anticipation as the world waits to see plumes of white smoke, the first visible sign that there is a new pope. Throughout the Church’s history, episodes of infighting, intrigue, curious name selection, and other elements of conclave have heightened modern curiosity about what exactly happens once the College of Cardinals convenes.
The early origins of the papacy
"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and even the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Behold, I give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 16:18). Jesus’ words to Peter in the Gospel of Matthew laid the foundation for the first pope of the Catholic Church (though it’s worth noting Peter was never formally referred to as pope in his own lifetime). After Peter, subsequent bishops of Rome were often appointed by their predecessors or selected by local rulers whose political interests aligned with their own. Church historians have used chronicles, diaries, and other correspondence to uncover some of the more unusual stories.
According to Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, when local Church officials had yet to elect a new pope after thirty days in 236 CE, a dove purportedly flew into the crowd and settled on the head of Fabian, who "was in the mind of none" as a possible papal contender. The gathered clergy and laity took the presence of the dove as a sign that Fabian had been anointed by the Holy Spirit, and he was chosen the twentieth pope by acclamation. Five other popes have been selected by acclamation (the last one was Pope Innocent XI in 1676), and Pope John Paul II formally did away with this particular method of papal election in 1996.
Choosing a new name
For centuries, popes simply used their baptismal names upon election. But in 553 CE, a priest named Mercurius was elected pope and was uncomfortable bearing the name of a Roman pagan god. Thus, he opted to pick a new name, John II, after a previous pope. Since then, popes have selected a name, usually that of a predecessor, that aligns with his values and mirrors his own vision for his papacy. The last pope to retain his baptismal name was Pope Marcellus II (1555).
Some of the most frequently used papal names have been John (23), Gregory (16), Benedict (16), Clement (14), Innocent (13), Leo (13) and Pius (12). What was so unique about Pope John Paul I was that he selected two names—the first after the pope who appointed him to the rank of bishop (John XXIII) and the second after the pope who appointed him to the rank of cardinal (Paul VI). Pope Francis also broke from tradition. His name, chosen in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, the thirteenth-century founder of the Franciscan order, was the first new papal name in over four hundred years.
The Medieval Origins of Conclave
Throughout the Middle Ages, the time required to elect a new pope varied, and most were selected within a reasonable time period. However, after the death of Clement IV in 1268, cardinals found that they could not agree on his successor. After three years without a result, local magistrates and residents of the town of Viterbo, north of Rome, became so frustrated that they locked the cardinals into a room until a decision was made.
This is where the term conclave originates: conclave means “with a key” in Latin. The cardinals were only fed bread and water that was passed through a window. When these rigid conditions did not expedite the process, the magistrates literally removed the roof of the Palazzo dei Papi “to let the Holy Spirit in.” This led to the election of Pope Gregory X, who laid the foundation for the conclave process that is used today.
Though the conclave process became formalized in the thirteenth century, it did not always swiftly or peacefully produce a new pope. In 1378, after the papacy returned to Rome from a seventy-year period in Avignon, locals were concerned that the new pope would not be from Rome. An unruly mob surrounded the cardinals and demanded they elect an Italian pope: “se non che tutti vi occideremo” (“if not we will kill you all”). Pope Urban VI (from Naples) was elected, but his disastrous papacy led to a forty-year schism. Dueling papal courts were situated in Rome and Avignon, with each claiming to be the true heir to the papacy and excommunicating each other.
Today, the Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco looming over the College of Cardinals, is synonymous with the conclave. But the first conclave to be held there did not take place until 1492. It was there in 1503 that the shortest conclave in history took place, with Pope Julius II elected in a matter of hours. Other conclaves were not so fortunate. In 1655, a group of cardinals grew bored with the lengthy process and played pranks on some of the older cardinals. In the middle of the night, one young cardinal dressed up as a ghost and spooked an elderly cardinal, who collapsed from fright and died shortly thereafter.
Though many of these colorful stories are in the distant past, even recent conclaves have had their own fabled moments. In 2013, a German Catholic priest disguised himself as a cardinal and tried to infiltrate a pre-conclave meeting in the Vatican. Within an hour, the Swiss Guard noticed his slightly off-kilter garb and swiftly removed him.
Habemus Papam!
Though the plume of white smoke signaling a new pope is one of the most famous visuals of conclave, it is a fairly modern convention (1914). The special chimney that carries the smoke of the burned ballots has to be installed prior to the start of conclave. In 1958, when a spotlight made it difficult to distinguish whether the smoke was black or white, special chemicals were added to make the results of each voting session clearer to the onlookers in St. Peter’s Square. But because it was still sometimes difficult to literally read the smoke signals, beginning in 2005, bells also chime once a new pope is elected.
There is much public anticipation for the new pope to appear in the window above St. Peter’s Square, but the new pope is granted a moment of quiet before that dramatic public entrance. After leaving the Sistine Chapel, the new pope will put on the papal cassock for the first time (multiple sizes will be hanging in a closet) in an antechamber. Since the nineteenth century, it’s become known as the Room of Tears or the Crying Room. (It was also featured in the 2024 film Conclave.)
Prior to conclave, the Sistine Chapel is swept to ensure that there are no drones, hidden cameras, microphones, or other spying equipment that could provide the outside world with information about the voting process. All cardinals, kitchen staff, drivers, and other people in proximity to the conclave swear an oath of secrecy about the conversations that take place inside the Sistine Chapel. Barring any leaks, the conversations in the Sistine Chapel will remain a mystery to us onlookers on the outside, eager to glimpse the first billows of white smoke and hear the pealing of bells.
