Following the death of a Pope, a highly secretive papal conclave is held in the Vatican, during which cardinals select the next leader of the Catholic Church.
After the Pope’s death, preparations commenced for the conclave, with cardinals traveling to Rome from all corners of the globe.
On Wednesday, May 7, the conclave’s first day, cardinals convened to vote. The lack of a decision was signaled by black smoke billowing from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney that evening. To be elected Pope, a candidate needs at least two-thirds of the vote. A successful election is indicated by white smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel.
On the second day, four rounds of voting are held, and this pattern continues until the next Catholic Church leader is chosen. Theoretically, this process could go on indefinitely.
It’s not surprising that conclaves have been known to take a long time in the past. However, recent elections have been much quicker. The election of Pope Gregory XVI in 1831, which took 51 days of voting, was the last conclave to last longer than a week.
Here’s an overview of how the length of conclaves has evolved recently.
The longest conclave in history—and how it came to be
The Catholic Church experienced a significant crisis following Pope Clement VI’s death in 1268. The group was divided between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
This division, along with personal and political agendas of the cardinals, resulted in a stalemate that lasted almost three years. A decision was only reached after the Viterbo city gates, where the conclave was being held, were locked and all contact with the outside world was cut off.
In response to this three-year conclave, Pope Gregory X declared in 1274 that future conclaves must be held in seclusion, with no communication between cardinals and the outside world.
—Latin for “with a key”— This term evolved into “conclave,” which is now the name for this electoral procedure.
In the years that followed, conclaves could last anywhere from a few days to several months.
How long have recent conclaves been?
Fortunately for Catholics and the rest of the world, recent conclaves haven’t stretched on for a grueling three years. Of the last five, the longest lasted only three days.
The most recent conclave lasted two days. Cardinals only needed five rounds of voting to elect the new Pontiff: one on the first day and four on the second.
Pope Benedict XVI was chosen by cardinals in 2005 in the same amount of time, two days.
. Pope John Paul II was elected in October after eight rounds of voting spread over three days. Just months earlier, in August, John Paul I was elected in two days. shortly after becoming Pope. His sudden death has been the subject of conspiracy theories.
Fifteen years prior, in June 1963, after three days of voting.
How long will this conclave take?
An exact timeframe is impossible to predict, but if recent conclaves are anything to go by, we should know who the next head of the Catholic Church will be within a week.
