The papal conclave, the secretive election process to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church, commenced on Wednesday.

Pope Francis's death at the age of 88 means the Catholic Church must choose a new leader. Here's how cardinals elect the next pontiff at the conclave.

Per Catholic doctrine, only baptized, Catholic males are allowed to be priests, who can then go on to be cardinals. Only male cardinals under the age of 80 can vote in a conclave, and only men are ...

The longest conclave lasted almost three years. Thankfully, the timeframe has changed drastically in recent years.

Papal conclave ballots have been burned to maintain secrecy for centuries. Ballot smoke has been used to announce a decision since 1914.

Papal conclaves have featured calls of election fraud and bribery so gauche that riches were wheeled in on donkey carts.

The movie, while following a fictional story, uses real-life elements of an actual conclave to tell its story.What the movie got right The papal process as a whole is very similar to what happens ...