The conclave is upon us and in a short time the successor of Pope Francis. The May 7th in fact i 133 Cardinal voters will meet in the Sistine Chapel To elect the new pontiff: it is a slightly lower number than initially planned, given that 2 cardinals they will not attend due to health problems. Among the eligible names to take the role of bishop of Rome we find Luis Antonio Tagle, Matteo Zuppi and Pietro Parolin. In light of all this, how many votes will the new pope have to be elected?
The election of the pontiff can only take place if this receives at least two thirds of the votes and for this reason, given that this will participate will participate 133 cardinals, it is mathematically necessary to receive 88.6 votes. Obviously the decimals cannot therefore be considered for reach the quorum We will have to get two thirds of the votes plus one, that is 89 votes.
Although many believe that the election of the new pope could be quite rapid, the rules provide that After the 34 ° per voteif it has not yet reached the majority requested, take the two cardinals most voted by the previous ballot and only two of them in the ballot. ATTENTION: In this case too it is not enough to have the majority but it is good to always reach two thirds plus one of the votes.
As for the last conclaves, this value has never been achieved: Pope Francis in fact he was elected after the fifth scrutiny, while Pope Benedict XVI After the fourth. In recent times, one of the longest conclaves was that of Pope Pius XI In the 1922 which was elected after 14 ballots.
But how exactly does a conclave work? And why does everything happen behind closed doors? Here is a video ad hoc On the subject:
