The Vatican has announced that 135 cardinals will gather in a secret conclave on May 7 inside the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope, following the death of Pope Francis at age 88 on Easter Monday. The process, which requires a two-thirds majority and could take several days, involves daily rounds of voting and complete isolation from the outside world. White smoke from the chapel’s chimney will signal the election of a new pope. Pope Francis’s funeral drew 140,000 mourners in Rome, and he was laid to rest at Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, with a single white rose marking his tomb.
