User:Foghe/Next papal conclave

The papal conclave of 202x will be convened to elect the new Bishop of Rome to succeed Pope Francis, following his death on Month 00 of the same year. The participating cardinal-electors are due to soon gather in Rome, to set the date for the beginning of the conclave and to subsequently carry out the election of the new Pontiff, as required by catholic canon law.

Timing and residence
The rules for the election of the new Roman Pontiff, having not been modified by Pope Francis, will be the same of the previous conclave of March 2013. The dispositions are accurately explained in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis (1996) by Pope John Paul II, and in the two documents authored by Pope Benedict XVI—De electione romani pontifici (2007) and Normas nonnullas (2013)—that slightly modified them.

Under this rules the conclave must start no more than 20 days after the beginning of the sede vacante, even though cardinals have the authority to prorogue the term for 'serious reasons'; moreover automatic excommunication is provided for any non-cardinal who breaks the absolute oath of secrecy required in the procedure.

Cardinals will be hosted as usual, as in previous conclaves, in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a guesthouse normally used by visiting members of the clergy and other eminent personalities. Since 2013 hovewer, it has also been the permanent residence, though not the official one, of Pope Francis that, after being elected, decided not to move to the traditional Apostolic Palace, customarily reserved to the reigning Pope. He was the first Bishop of Rome to habitually live in the Domus since her costruction in 1996, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

Procedure for the election
As traditionally first established in the Third Lateran Council of 1179, and as reaffirmed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, a majority of two-thirds of the cardinal-electors is necessary for a successfull vote in the conclave. The vote is secret and personal; after the count all ballots are burned in a stove, alongside the personal notes of the cardinals who wish to do so.

In case of a deadlock among the cardinals in the selection of a candidate—according to the bull De electione romani pontifici (2007)—after 33 unsuccessful ballots (34 if a vote is held on the first day), cardinals will be able to vote, still with a two-thirds majority requirement, only for the two most voted candidates in the last ordinary vote, whence onwards only two names will be considered as valid preferences, with all the other votes discarded.

Finally, once the new Pontiff has been chosen, the positive outcome of the election will be announced to the crowd awaiting in St. Peter's Square with a puff of white smoke, as opposed to black smoke, in accordance with the ancient tradition for anouncing the election of a Pope, and with the ringing of all the bells on the façade of the Basilica, in order to make undoubtedly clear the result of the conclave.

Cardinal electors
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Papabili
Various cardinals have been regularly proposed as possible new Popes by the press or by other fellow cardinals. Technically, any baptized catholic male is eligible to the role, but since 1271—with the election of Pope Gregory X—electors have always chosen the Pontiff among their number.

As of 2024 the most likely cardinals to be elected are often identified, almost in line with the predictions of 2013, as beeing Marc Ouellet of Canada, Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, Robert Sarah of Guinea, Timothy Dolan and Seán Patrick O'Malley of the United States, Pietro Parolin of Italy, Odilo Scherer of Brazil, and Peter Turkson of Ghana.

Pre-conclave activities
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Election
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First day
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