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: Normally the Dean of the College of Cardinals would be responsible for the convoking the Conclave. However, as the Dean, Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, is 85 and too old to vote, the senior cardinal-elector, Giovanni Battista Re, takes on the responsibility. Sixty-seven of the men who will vote for the new pope were appointed by Benedict XVI, and 49 by his predecessor John Paul II. About half (60) are European, and 21 are Italian. There will also be 19 Latin Americans, 14 North Americans, 11 Africans, 10 Asians and one cardinal from Oceania among the voters. 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.