Send to Kindle
Lights illuminate Saint Peter`s Basilica, Vatican City, 11 March 2013. Photo by BGNES
The papal conclave tasked with electing a successor to retired Pope Benedict XVI begins Tuesday in Vatican City.
On Tuesday afternoon, 115 cardinal-electors, all of them under 80, will walk to the Sistine Chapel to begin the secret election, after a public Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in the morning, according to reports of the BBC News.
The cardinals are to begin voting late on Tuesday afternoon, with no clear frontrunner in sight.
The cardinals will vote four tines daily until one candidate has won a 2/3 majority, or 77 votes.
Black smoke from a makeshift copper chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel will indicate that no candidate has been elected while white smoke will announce the election of the 266th Pope.
The 115 cardinals will be banned from communicating with the outside world and the Vatican has installed electronic counter-bugging measures to ensure secrecy.
The election was prompted by the surprise resignation of Benedict XVI announced on February 11.
85-year-old Pope Benedict resigned after eight years in office, citing ill health.
As Pope Francis' passing on April 21 has prompted speculation over who will succeed him, media outlets are highlighting potential candidates for the papal conclave
Pope Francis passed away on the morning of April 21 following a stroke, as confirmed by the Vatican's press service
Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev and a delegation accompanying him were granted an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican
The Vatican has issued a strong condemnation of gender reassignment surgery and surrogacy, labeling them as "serious threats" to human dignity
The Vatican has undergone a notable shift in its approach towards the ongoing war in Ukraine, signaling a firmer stance against Russia's aggression
“I will not resign today. You will get answers to all the questions next week.”
The Bulgarian Ministry of Interior has assigned security to European Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva after she reported pressure and threats linked to investigations conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bulgaria
Germany has warned that the war involving Iran could trigger a new migration wave toward Europe, as the conflict continues to create instability across the region
The European Union and Hungarian opposition figures have sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over recent comments directed at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, describing them as a threat
The Ministry of Justice has officially received a report from Teodora Georgieva, Bulgaria's European Prosecutor, detailing pressure, threats, and attempts to undermine the authority of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
NATO has stepped up the readiness of its missile defense systems following an Iranian ballistic missile attack targeting Turkey, a spokesperson for the Alliance’s military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, Martin L. O'Donnell, confirmed to DPA.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is expected to have immediate implications for the security of the European Union, according to the European policing agency Europol
Novinite 2025 in Review: A Year That Tested Bulgaria and the World
A Disgraceful Betrayal: Bulgaria's Shameful Entry into Trump's Board of Peace
