A few weeks later on from the death of Pope Francis in Vatican City, the process of choosing the successor began today.
The papal conclave as its called, is the process that occurs after any pope either dies or steps down.
How it works? All 133 cardinals congregate in the Sistine Chapel and continue to vote for a new pope until two thirds of the group can come to a decision.
If the cardinals can’t come to a majority on the new pope, a re-vote occurs until the number of votes needed (89) happens.
This voting can go on for days and even weeks. The longest conclave in history even lasted three years from, November 1268 to September 1271.
So when do we know when a new pope is chosen?
After each voting session is concluded, the chimney of the Sistine Chapel will show smoke with a certain color representing the decision.
If black smoke appears, that means no decision has been made on the new pope. If white smoke appears, that means the pope has been decided.
Vatican chimney live stream
Latest update on pope selection
At the time of writing, the first round of black smoke was declared on Wednesday night (May 7) around 9 pm local Italian time. That means that NO pope has been selected yet.
The popes will go rest and return to voting Thursday morning.