Papal conclave
Election of the pope
Follow Papal conclave on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
| May 31 2025 | The first papal conclave with more than 120 cardinal-electors, specifically 133 participants. |
| May 11 2025 | Latest possible start date for the papal conclave, as per Pope Benedict XVI's normas nonnulas, which stipulates the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the papal seat becomes vacant. |
| 2025 | Pope Leo XIV returned to traditional papal vestment practices, appearing on the balcony in the full traditional attire including the red mozzetta, rochet, gold pectoral cross, and stole. |
| 2025 | Cardinal Pietro Parolin assumed the functions of consecrating the new pope, as the dean and sub-dean were not available. |
| 2025 | Diego Ravelli served as master of papal liturgical celebrations during the papal conclave, following the modern practice of announcing the expulsion of outsiders through a microphone while standing in front of the altar and closing the chapel doors. |
| May 7 2025 | Scheduled start of the papal conclave to elect a new Pope, with the possibility of an earlier start if all cardinal electors have arrived in Rome. |
| May 7 2025 | Earliest possible start date for the papal conclave to elect Pope Francis's successor. |
| 2025 | Upcoming papal conclave after Pope Francis will be the most numerous in Roman Catholic Church history, with 139 cardinal electors, though 14 will lose voting rights upon turning 80. |
| April 21 2025 | Death of Pope Francis, triggering the upcoming papal conclave to elect his successor. |
| 2020 | Giovanni Battista Re became dean of the College of Cardinals. |
| 2013 | The dean and sub-dean were over the age limit and not in attendance, so Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re assumed the functions of consecrating the new pope. |
| 2013 | Pope Benedict XVI made additional amendments to conclave procedures. |
| 2013 | During this conclave, the master of papal liturgical celebrations Guido Marini deviated from traditional practice by standing in front of the altar and using a microphone to order outsiders to leave, then closing the chapel doors, instead of standing directly at the door. |
| 2013 | Normas nonnullas document introduced the most recent updates to papal election procedures. |
| 2013 | Vatican publicly disclosed the specific chemicals used to create black and white smoke during the conclave. |
| 2013 | Pope Francis deviated from traditional papal appearance customs by dispensing with the red mozzetta, rochet, and gold pectoral cross, wearing only a white cassock and his own pectoral cross. |
| March 2013 | Pope Francis was elected through a papal conclave following the established conclave rules, which included selecting nine cardinals for specific roles in the voting process and conducting multiple scrutinies. |
| February 28 2013 | Pope Benedict XVI resigned, breaking the 600-year gap since the last papal resignation and becoming the first pope to resign in the modern era. |
| February 22 2013 | Pope Francis made Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri a cardinal at his first consistory, following the tradition of bestowing his cardinal's skull cap at the previous conclave. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Papal conclave, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.