When will there be a new pope? All the steps leading up to the white smoke.

BarcelonaThe death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday at the age of 88 opens a highly formal process that must culminate with the revealing white smoke and the announcement of the new pontiff. Before that, however, the funeral rites must be held, culminating on Saturday with Francis's funeral and burial. will be buried in a single coffin instead of the usual threeFrom Wednesday morning until Friday afternoon, his body will be on display so the faithful can say their farewells.

April 21st

Announcement of deathCardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell verified and made official Francis's death on Monday morning.

Your vacancy. A transition period begins, with Farrell taking the lead as interim president.

April 23

Funeral transfer. Following the vigil at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis's residence, the coffin will be transferred this Wednesday to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, April 23-25.

Funeral homeFrancis's body is laid out before the faithful and authorities in St. Peter's Basilica.

April 26

FuneralIt will be held on Saturday morning in the Vatican Basilica itself.

GraveFrancis will be buried in a crypt of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in central Rome.

May 11 (deadline)

Call for the conclave. Once the funeral rites are complete, it's time for the conclave, the meeting of the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel to elect a successor. It will be convened no later than 20 days after the Pope's death.

The transition period, "his vacancy," will end with the conclave, the ritual for electing the new pope. The name comes from the Latin "cum key(low key) and clearly evokes the secrecy surrounding the ceremony, which takes place in the magnificent Sistine Chapel. The College of Cardinals, the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church, is made up of 252 men. There are 135, but two—the Spaniard Antonio Cañizares and the Bosnian Vinko Puljić—have already announced they will not travel to Rome for health reasons.

Of the 135 voting cardinals, the vast majority were appointed by Francis. However, this does not guarantee that the next pope will be in line with the previous pontiff's position.

The geographic distribution of the cardinals shows a more international Church, with representation from countries that until now had none, such as Mongolia, Lesotho, Albania, East Timor, Tonga, Iran, and Algeria. Although European cardinals remain the majority, there has been a slight decrease compared to the previous conclave, while the representation of African, Asian, and Latin American countries has increased slightly.

A two-thirds majority is required to elect the new pope. Considering that in the conclave It is expected that there will be 133 cardinals with voting rightsAt least 89 cardinals must vote for the same candidate. During the conclave, the cardinals are sworn to absolute secrecy and are not allowed any contact with the outside world. Their telephones are confiscated, and they are not allowed to read newspapers, listen to the radio, or watch television, nor receive any letters or messages from outside. They sleep in the Casa Santa Marta, where Francis lived during his papacy.

On the first day, only one vote is held, but starting on the second day, the cardinals vote up to four times each day, writing their candidate's name on a piece of paper. If 30 votes are held and there is no agreement, in subsequent rounds they can only choose between the two candidates with the most votes. After each round of voting, the names are read aloud and the papers are burned. In Sant Pere Square, the crowd waits for smoke to rise from the chimney. If the smoke is black, there is no Pope yet. If it is white, we have a popeIn the last century, the longest conclave lasted five days, in 1922, but both Francis and Benedict XVI were elected in less than 48 hours.