VATICAN CITY (AP) — Black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday, signalling that no pope had been elected as 133 cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual to ...

The papal conclave will begin on Wednesday, May 7, according to the Vatican. In total, 133 cardinals will be voting during this conclave, the most electors ever, with 108 of them being appointed ...

Following the death or abdication of a pope, the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals meets at the Vatican to choose a new leader at a papal conclave.

Where does a papal conclave take place? A papal conclave takes place at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Only the College of Cardinals is allowed inside. What is the College of Cardinals?

At the last conclave, in 2013, the Vatican said it used a mixture of potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur to produce black smoke, and potassium chlorate, lactose and rosin for white.

Vatican firefighters were seen on the roof of the Sistine Chapel installing the chimney, a key moment in the preparation for the May 7 conclave.

Pope Leo XIV - history-making, the first American Pope. Now, David Muir reports from the Vatican in the breaking, new "20/20" special edition.

Pope Leo's approach to peace is both symbolic and practical, experts say. Why his latest call for fasting and prayer is ...

But when Pope Francis died in April 2025, the account pivoted to real-time coverage of the actual papal conclave —and attracted nearly 100,000 followers fast.

Archbishop and Professor Thomas Paul Schirrmacher, a leading Evangelical theology scholar, religious liberty advocate, and a ...