Title: Conclave: How cardinals elect a Pope - BBC News
Headings: Conclave: How cardinals elect a Pope
Conclave: How cardinals elect a Pope
Pope Benedict XVI is to resign at the end of the month, at the age of 85.
Cardinals summoned to Rome
Secret conclave
Voting rituals
Reaching a decision
New pope announced

Content: During the time between the Pope's resignation and the election of his successor, the college of cardinals will govern the Church, headed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, as the cardinal camerlengo - or chamberlain. It is his job to supervise the whole election process, with secret votes being held four times daily inside the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. During the Conclave, cardinals reside within the Vatican and are not permitted any contact with the outside world. During this period all the cardinals - retirees included - will begin to discuss in strict secrecy the merits of likely candidates. The cardinals do not have to choose one of their own number - theoretically any baptised male Catholic can be elected pope - but tradition says that they will almost certainly give the job to a cardinal. The Vatican talks about the cardinals being guided by the Holy Spirit. But although open campaigning is forbidden, a papal election is still a highly political process. The coalition-builders have about two weeks to forge alliances and senior cardinals who may themselves have little chance of becoming pope can still exert a considerable influence over the others. Secret conclave
The election of a pope is conducted in conditions of secrecy unique in the modern world. The cardinals are shut away in the Vatican until they reach agreement - the meaning of the word conclave indicating that they are literally locked up "with a key".