From Khatami’s surprise greeting to how to pick a new Pope

Once the cardinals have all filed into the chapel, its great bronze doors are dramatically closed and sealed, and the first day’s voting begins. Cardinals attend the conclave for the election of a new pope in the Sistine Chapel on March 12, 2013. The following day, their choice was made: Pope Francis. L’Ossservatore Romano/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images How does the voting for a new pope work?

The cardinals will have already discussed the merits of each papal prospect during days of “general congregations” at the Vatican before the conclave, but now the voting begins. Choosing the new pope requires not just a majority, but a two-thirds plus-one vote among the cardinal electors for a candidate to win. Pope Benedict XVI, who led the church prior to Francis, raised the threshold and enshrined the two-thirds requirement into church law two days before he stepped down.

April 26, 2025 | 6:02 am