The conclave tasked to appoint the next pope began in the Vatican on Wednesday morning local time. Later that evening, black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signifying that the decision regarding who should become the next pope, is yet to be made.

On 21st April, the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, died of double pneumonia. As the centuries old tradition entails, cardinals from across the globe have met in the Vatican to decide on the successor of Pope Francis.

All cardinals must take a vow to secrecy prior to the commencement of the conclave. The vow is spoken in Latin, and emphasises the importance of secrecy throughout the conclave process. The secrecy vow was created by Pope John Paul II in 1996.

“We promise and swear not to break this secret in any way, either during or after the election of the new pontiff, unless explicit authorisation is granted by the same pontiff,” part of the vow says.

The cardinals will vote on who they believe should be the next Pope, where they must meet a two-thirds majority before white smoke can be emitted from the Vatican chimney to signal that a new pope has been agreed upon. From Thursday, the cardinals will begin voting four times per day.

This conclave has the largest group in history, with 133 cardinals involved. Casa Santa Marta, the accommodation at the Sistine Chapel, only holds 125 guests – resulting in 7 cardinals having to stay off site at the Santa Marta Vecchia, a nearby building.

More than 45,000 people were crowded outside the Sistine Chapel, waiting to witness the first round of smoke emerge from the chimney. Mobile phone reception has been temporarily blocked for the city, to ensure that no information can be leaked from the conclave.

Photo: by Josh Withers is available here and used under a Creative Commons licence.