Following Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, all eyes will now turn to the papal conclave, which is set to elect the new leader of the Catholic Church.

Cardinals from across the globe will soon gather in the Sistine Chapel for the voting process, and will send up white smoke from a temporary chimney when they have come to a decision.

But what goes on within the chapel’s walls during this period? And how is the new Pope decided on?

Historian of the Catholic Church at the University of Oxford Doctor Miles Pattenden said the start date of the conclave has yet to be announced but is expected to come around May 5th.

“Conclaves have developed quite a lot over the years, but the basic idea is that the cardinals get together in a room - or a suite of rooms - and are locked by key,” he told The Anton Savage Show.

“Hence the name conclave, it means ‘with a key’ in Latin and Italian.

“They vote as many times as they need to, to elect a new pope and that is roughly what we're going to see this time.

“It's yet to be confirmed as far as I'm aware, but it's almost certain to take place in the Sistine Chapel."

Cardinals walk in procession to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, at the beginning of the conclave, April 18, 2005. (Osservatore Romano via AP, File)

Dr Pattenden said little of the process will be made public, and the cardinals will likely not be seen from the beginning of the conclave until the new Church leader is elected.

One key factor of a conclave that is known is that canvassing for the Papacy is strictly forbidden.

“That doesn't mean that there aren't campaigns of some kind going on,” Dr Pattenden said.

“Certainly, the cardinals will now be discussing quite intensely amongst themselves, not only what kind of Pope they want, but which person might best fit that profile and who are the candidates most likely to achieve the required consensus to get over the line in this election.

“It has a much higher threshold than a lot of elections around the world - the Pope needs two thirds of the voters to vote for him.

"Which is actually quite a demanding task and often leads to kind of compromise candidates, not the one or two most obvious ones you'd think of at the beginning.”

Disagreements

According to Dr Pattenden, while this is a technical requirement, the conclave will aim to find a candidate that is almost universally agreed upon.

This is to avoid any groups breaking from the Catholic Church over a disagreement.

Dr Pattenden said it is unsure how long the process will take, but it is unlikely to drag out any longer than a month.

Main image: Cardinals attend a mass presided over by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin on the second of nine days of mourning for late Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)