On Wednesday, 133 cardinals will collect within the Sistine Chapel to pick the following pope.
It’s known as the conclave and it is among the oldest election processes on the earth. For days – maybe even weeks – the cardinals in Rome will vote many times till one candidate wins a two-thirds majority. Then, and solely then, will they be named because the successor to Pope Francis.
It’s, as Guardian journalist Harriet Sherwood explains, an election wealthy in ceremony and ritual. But it will possibly get very soiled too: cardinals lobbying in corridors and Vatican gardens; allegations of leaks to the media to discredit rivals; even the emergence of a video of 1 cardinal – a bookies’ favorite to be the following pope – singing ‘atheist anthem’ Think about by John Lennon.
As Michael Safi hears, the conclave comes at a very delicate time for the Catholic church and the assorted factions vying for its management.
So who will probably be named pope when the well-known white smoke emerges?
