papal elections
Choosing the Pope
Papal elections are the process by which a new pope is chosen.
When a pope dies or resigns, cardinals under age eighty gather in a conclave—a closed meeting in the Sistine Chapel—to vote until one candidate receives a two-thirds majority.
White smoke signals a successful election; black smoke means voting continues.
The papal election of 2013 chose Pope Francis.
- College of CardinalsPapal electoral body
- Sistine ChapelVatican worship hall
- white smokeVatican election success indicator
- St. Peter's SquareVatican's main plaza
- Vatican CouncilPapal gathering of bishops
Divine Providence · Swiss Guard · secret ballot · Counter-Reformation
- papacypontiff, Pope, pope, Holy See, Vatican
- Papal HistoryVatican, Holy See, pontiffs, tiara, College of Cardinals
- cardinalsnorthern cardinal, cardinals, cardinal direction, cardinal points, cardinal virtue
- church-statechurch-state, separation, church-state separation, establishment clause, religious accommodation
- Lateran Councilschurch reform, transubstantiation
- Papal SchismsWestern Schism, Great Schism, schism, antipope, antipopes
papal electionspopular vote
Total of citizen votes
general elections · plebiscites · direct democracy · national elections · primary elections
papal electionshereditary succession
Passing titles through lineage
dynastic succession · primogeniture · military coup · violent overthrow · usurpation
papal electionspresidential elections
Votes to choose leaders
parliamentary elections · congressional elections · gubernatorial elections · municipal elections · union elections
papal, elections, papacy, papist, popish, elect, election, electing, elected