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.

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

Two cardinals, Michael Czerny and Chibly Langlois, sat down with ABC News to discuss the challenges facing the church that the new pope will have to face.

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 ...