"Extra omnes' and white smoke, here are all the rules of the Conclave

The arrival of the cardinal electors in Rome, the mass in St Peter's basilica before the entrance into the Sistine Chapel and the 'extra omnes' that officially gives the start to the elections. The Conclave, whose etymology is obviously Latin - from cum clave meaning (closed) "with a key" - is the rite that for centuries has accompanied the "birth" of new popes, from the voting under the gaze of Michelangelo's frescoes to the iconic white smoke that precedes the traditional habemus papam. According to the rules of the Universi Dominici Gregis, it will be held between the fifteenth and twentieth day after the Pope's death, and therefore, in this case, between 6 and 10 May. However, if all the cardinal electors are in Rome, the start of the Conclave can also be brought forward.

Before the official start of the Conclave, the cardinal electors reach Rome, where they find accommodation in Casa Santa Marta, the same building in which Bergoglio had decided to live by giving up the papal flat. On the day of the assembly they reach St. Peter's basilica for the mass for the election, presided over by the cardinal dean, in this case Giovanni Battista Re. Immediately afterwards they put on their choral robes and walk in procession to the Sistine Chapel, set up to welcome the cardinals with benches for elections and ballots and the stove where notes and ballot papers will be burned. The maximum number of cardinal electors is set at 120, although at the moment there are 135 eligible voters and it is not excluded, as in the past, that exceptions to the rule may be granted.

Everyone is forbidden to use any device or make contact with the outside world. It is only at the end of the oath - which ends with the phrase extra omnes (everybody out) - that the Conclave officially begins, with the locking of the door to the Sistine Chapel and the start of voting operations. Should the elections begin in the afternoon of the first day, only one ballot will be held, while on the following days there will be a total of four, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Once the name has been written on the ballot under the phrase Eligo in Summum Pontificem, each individual cardinal elector walks towards the altar with the ballot folded and clearly visible. He lays it on a silver plate resting on an urn and then lets it slide inside. Once the voting session is over, the first two tellers open and silently read the name written on the ballot, while the third one pronounces the name.

The ballots are drilled and tied together, then burnt inside the stove. In the case of non-election, a mixture is added to colour the smoke black. If not, however, the dean turns to the elected candidate to ask him or her whether or not he or she accepts the position and what name will be chosen. Only then will the ballots be burned, adding the white dye that will announce the election of the new Pope from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Only at the end will the vesting take place in the so-called 'Room of Tears' in the sacristy of the Sistine Chapel. It will then be the turn of the Cardinal Protodeacon to make the announcement of the election from the central loggia of St Peter's Basilica, from which the new Pope will then appear for the urbi et orbi blessing.