Vatican says conclave to elect new pope to begin on May 7

Following the passing of Pope Francis, a conclave to elect the new Roman Catholic leader will take place on May 7 according to the Vatican.

Two days after Francis’ funeral, which took place on April 21 at the age of 88, a closed-door cardinals meeting at the Vatican decided the date.

135 cardinals from around the world, all of whom are under the age of 80, are eligible to cast a secret ballot to choose the Church’s 1.4 billion-member successor.

The Vatican closed the world-famous Sistine Chapel on Monday to begin the preparations.

Members of the conclave can cast their ballots using secret ballots, which nine cardinals pick randomly from among them. Voting continues until this threshold has been met, and traditionally, the new pope must have received a two-thirds majority.

The ballots are then burned with chemicals to reveal the results, which will either be white or black smoke. White smoke indicates that a new pope has been elected, while black smoke indicates that no decisions have been made. A top cardinal issues his name from Saint Peter’s Basilica once the pope is elected.