In this age of artificial intelligence, we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity
— Pope Francis

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — There are no official candidates for the papacy, but some cardinals are considered 'papabile', or possessing the characteristics necessary to become the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church and successor to Pope Francis, who passed away at age 88 last April 21, 2025.
Still, there are always front-runners, known as 'papabile', who have at least some of the qualities considered necessary to be pope—much like those depicted in last year’s Oscar-nominated film 'Conclave'.
But there is a popular saying in Vatican circles that says if you “enter a conclave as pope, you leave as a cardinal.”
This simply implies that the sacred and secretive process of electing a new pope is not a popularity contest or campaign, but rather the divinely inspired election of Christ’s Vicar on Earth by the princes of the Catholic Church.
The truth is that any baptized Catholic male is eligible to become pontiff, though only cardinals have been selected since 1378. The one to win must receive at least two-thirds of the vote from those cardinals under age 80 and thus eligible to participate.
In the upcoming Conclave, it's worth to note that Francis appointed the vast majority of electors, often tapping men who share his pastoral priorities, which suggests continuity rather than rupture. However, it's also important to cite that anyone who will try to handicap the outcome should remember that Jorge Mario Bergoglio was considered too old to be elected pope in 2013 at age 76, and that Karol Wojtyla wasn’t on any front-runner lists going into the 1978 conclave that elected him Pope John Paul II.
The Hollywood film 'Conclave' may have introduced moviegoers to the spectacular ritual and drama of electing a new pope, but the periodic voting has actually been going on for centuries and this has created a whole genre of historical trivia.
So, here are some facts about past conclaves.

- Longest conclave in history
In the 13th century, it took almost three years—1,006 days to be exact—to choose Pope Clement IV’s successor, making it the longest conclave in the Catholic Church’s history. It’s also where the term conclave comes from, “under lock and key,” because the cardinals who were meeting in Viterbo, north of Rome, took so long the town’s frustrated citizens locked them in the room.
The secret vote that elected Pope Gregory X lasted from November 1268 to September 1271. It was the first example of a papal election by 'compromise', after a long struggle between supporters of two main geopolitical medieval factions—those faithful to the papacy and those supporting the Holy Roman Empire.

- A roofless palace hosted the first and longest conclave
A roofless palace in the Central Italian city of Viterbo hosted the first and longest Conclave. It is situated at the foot of the Cimini Mountains, northwest of Rome in the Lazio region.
Originally, Viterbo was an independent commune and an episcopal see from 1193, occasioning three centuries of disputes between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire before it became a papal possession in 1396. Viterbo rivaled Rome as the papal residence after 1257, but it again declined in importance after the removal of the papacy to Avignon, France in 1309.

- ‘One meal a day’ rule
Gregory X was elected only after Viterbo residents tore the roof off the building where the prelates were staying and restricted their meals to bread and water to pressure them to come to a conclusion. Hoping to avoid a repeat, Gregory X decreed in 1274 that cardinals would only get 'one meal a day' if the conclave stretched beyond three days, and only 'bread, water and wine' if it went beyond eight. That restriction has been dropped.

- Shortest conclave ever
Before 1274, there were times when a pope was elected the same day as the death of his predecessor. After that, however, the church decided to wait at least 10 days before the first vote. Later that was extended to 15 days to give all cardinals time to get to Rome. The quickest conclave observing the 10-day wait rule appears to have been the 1503 election of Pope Julius II, who was elected in just a few hours, according to Vatican historian Ambrogio Piazzoni. In more recent times, Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on the fifth ballot, Benedict XVI won in 2005 on the fourth and Pope Pius XII won on the third in 1939.

- The first conclave in the Sistine Chapel
The first conclave held in the Sistine Chapel was in 1492. Since 1878, the chapel—renowned for its iconic Michelangelo’s frescoes—has become the venue of all conclaves. “Everything is conducive to an awareness of the presence of God, in whose sight each person will one day be judged,” St. John Paul II wrote in his 1996 document regulating the conclave, 'Universi Dominici Gregis'. The cardinals sleep a short distance away in the nearby Domus Sanctae Marthae (House of Saint Martha) or a nearby residence.

- The Vatican closes the Sistine Chapel to the public and prepares for a papal conclave
To date, the Vatican closes the Sistine Chapel to the public and prepares for a papal Conclave.

- Alternative locations for the Conclave
Most conclaves were held in Rome, with some taking place outside the Vatican walls. Four were held in the Pauline Chapel of the papal residence at the Quirinale Palace, while some 30 others were held in Saint John Lateran Basilica, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva or other places in Rome. On 15 occasions they took place outside Rome and the Vatican altogether, including in Viterbo, Perugia, Arezzo and Venice in Italy, and Konstanz, Germany and Lyon, France.

- Alternative popes, or antipopes
Between 1378-1417, referred to by historians as the Western Schism, there were rival claimants to the title of pope. The schism produced multiple papal contenders, the so-called antipopes, splitting the Catholic Church for nearly 40 years. The most prominent antipopes during the Western Schism were Clement VII, Benedict XIII, Alexander V and John XXIII. The schism was ultimately resolved by the Council of Constance in 1417, which led to the election of Martin V, a universally accepted pontiff.

- Conclave was a challenge to personal hygiene
The cloistered nature of the conclave posed another challenge for cardinals: staying healthy. Before the Domus Santa Marta guest house was built in 1996, cardinal electors slept on cots in rooms connected to the Sistine Chapel. Conclaves in the 16th and 17th centuries were described as 'disgusting' and 'badly smelling', with concern about disease outbreaks, particularly in summer, according to historian Miles Pattenden.
“The cardinals simply had to have a more regular and comfortable way of living because they were old men, many of them with quite advanced disease,” Pattenden wrote. The enclosed space and lack of ventilation further aggravated these issues. Some of the electors left the conclave sick, often seriously.

- Vow of secrecy
Initially, papal elections weren’t as secretive, but concerns about political interference soared during the longest conclave in Viterbo. Gregory X decreed that cardinal electors should be locked in seclusion, cum clave (with a key), until a new pope was chosen. The purpose was to create a totally secluded environment where the cardinals could focus on their task, guided by God’s will, without any political interference or distractions. Over the centuries, various popes have modified and reinforced the rules surrounding the conclave, emphasizing the importance of secrecy.

- Youngest pope, oldest pope
Pope John XII was just 18 when he was elected in 955. The oldest popes were Pope Celestine III (elected in 1191) and Celestine V (elected in 1294) who were both nearly 85. Benedict XVI was 78 when he was elected in 2005.

- Non-cardinal pope and non-Italian pope
There is no requirement that a pope be a cardinal, but that has been the case for centuries. The last time a pope was elected who wasn’t a cardinal was Urban VI in 1378. He was a monk and archbishop of Bari. While the Italians have had a stranglehold on the papacy over centuries, there have been many exceptions aside from John Paul II (Polish in 1978) and Benedict XVI (German in 2005) and Francis (Argentine in 2013). Alexander VI, elected in 1492, was Spanish; Gregory III, elected in 731, was Syrian; Adrian VI, elected in 1522, was from the Netherlands.

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