The Latest Breaking News from the Catholic Church

With the conclave to elect the new pope beginning in Vatican City on Wednesday, following the death of Francis I on 21 April, we look at the contenders from around the world to succeed him and become the 267th pope.

The conclave that begins in Vatican City on Wednesday is the process of electing the next leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. Shrouded in mystery, with all those involved sworn to secrecy on threat of ex-communication, what do we know about what goes on behind the sealed doors of…

Cardinals from all over the world will gather in conclave on Wednesday to elect a successor to Pope Francis.

One hundred and thirty-three cardinals are sequestering themselves behind the Vatican’s medieval walls for the start of a conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis

The Vatican, headquarters of the Catholic Church, is the smallest state in the world, with its own newspaper, national anthem in Latin and supreme leader: the pope.

While cardinals this week said they expected a short conclave, it will likely take at least a few rounds of voting

For nearly 800 years the Catholic Church has utilised the process of the conclave to elect a new pope. “Conclave” means “with a key”, indicating the cardinal-electors are locked up with a key to conduct their deliberations.

The 133 cardinal electors will begin the process of choosing the new pope when the conclave begins in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday afternoon and they cast their first vote.

Pope Francis’s successor will be elected in the coming days in a millennium-old ceremony known as the papal conclave. During the conclave, the 135 eligible Cardinal Electors of the Catholic Church will sequester themselves and elect a new pope in isolation.

The late pontiff was the first ever to style himself Pope Francis, a name chosen in honour of the 13th-century saint St Francis of Assisi.

The United States is the home country of 10 of the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope of the Catholic Church