A new papal election — known as the conclave — is set to begin following Pope Francis' death. The method the Catholic Church uses to elect its leader has stayed almost the same for 800 years.

Following the death of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, at the age of 88, more than 1 billion Catholics around the world wait with baited breath for the white smoke to emit from the Sistine Chapel, ...

Following the death or abdication of a pope, the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals meets at the Vatican to choose a new leader at a papal conclave. However, a papal conclave does not necessarily ...

VATICAN CITY -- The temporary chimney atop the Sistine Chapel released a plume of white smoke on Thursday evening local time, signaling that the 133 cardinals working inside had reached a two-thirds ...

Cardinals will gather at the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday for the start of the conclave to elect the late Pope Francis' successor. The cardinals took part in a final pre-conclave mass at St. Peter's ...

Soon after, on March 29, the pontiff was readmitted into the hospital with difficulty breathing. On April 21, the day after ...

Earlier today I wrote that I like it when papal elections come around because they seem to provide a context for reporting about the Catholic Church that's more sophisticated than is usual, in the ...