The cardinals have begun voting to elect a new pope.
Catholic Church cardinals gathered on Wednesday, May 7th, to participate in the final Mass ceremony before the process of electing a new pope begins at the Vatican.
After this ceremony, which was held in St. Peter’s Basilica, the cardinals are set to enter the Sistine Chapel, where they will be sequestered to conduct the voting process and elect a successor to Pope Francis, the late leader of the world’s Catholics.
In the past few centuries, no pope has been elected on the first day of the conclave, so the voting is likely to continue for several days until one of the red-hatted cardinals secures the two-thirds majority needed to become the 267th pope in history.
Only one round of voting will take place on Wednesday, but after that, the cardinals can vote up to four times a day.
The ballots are burned after each round; black smoke from the chimney on the church roof indicates an inconclusive vote, while white smoke accompanied by the ringing of bells signifies the election of a new pope for the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic community worldwide.