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Today marks the beginning of the conclave, when 133 cardinals from across the world will gather to elect a new pontiff. Later this afternoon, they will cast their votes in the historic Sistine Chapel.
Here’s how the events will unfold:
Reporting from Vatican City
VATICAN CITY — On the eve of the conclave to elect the next pope, the world’s smallest country is engulfed in commotion.
Packs of pilgrims chant and sing as they carry large, wooden crosses on the uneven cobblestones toward St. Peter’s Basilica. Street vendors and polo shirt-wearing tourists haggle over 1 euro fridge magnets bearing the face of the late Pope Francis. Espresso machines hiss, taxi drivers honk and crowds swell under intermittent clouds strafing the Vatican — which this week feels like the center of the universe.
The real action will happen nearby under a hush of near silence and total secrecy.
On Wednesday, 133 cardinal electors from all over the world will gather under the god-breathed frescos of the Sistine Chapel for the most clandestine of ballots. Barred from leaving and with zero contact with the outside world, they must vote — and vote, and perhaps vote again — until they select the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Read the full story here.
VATICAN CITY — As world leaders took to their front row seats at the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered in and around the pillared walls of St. Peter’s Square.
In a sunbaked Vatican City, huge crowds of devoted faithful stood for hours in a section beyond the neat rows of cardinals, who remained seated in their colorful robes and hats.
The laying to rest of the late pope was just one crescendo in what will be a weekslong series of events between the death of one pontiff and the naming of another that last happened two decades ago. It has drawn masses of Catholics from across the world to pay their respects and await the news of Francis’ successor, giving the city-state a somber but friendly atmosphere.
Read the full story here.
Dust off the history books and there are papal conclaves with international intrigue, royal rigging and even riots, a checkered past that belies the air of sanctity and solemnity surrounding modern papal elections.
The word “conclave” comes from the Latin for “with key.” It is a church tradition that began in 1268 with a papal election that lasted almost three years, ending only when the townspeople of Viterbo locked up the cardinals, tore the roof off their palace, fed them nothing but bread and water and threatened them until a new pope was chosen.
While it is very unlikely the decision on Pope Francis’ successor will take quite as long or be quite as contentious, Vatican watchers agree that the winner is not a foregone conclusion.
NBC News takes a look at the figures believed to be the top contenders.
Read the full story here.
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