The Vatican on Monday confirmed that all 133 Catholic cardinals eligible to vote for a new pope have arrived in Rome.
This is in preparation for the beginning of the conclave which commence this week
According to the statement, the cardinals will enter into seclusion in the Sistine Chapel at 4:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Wednesday, May 7, voting in secret until one of them secures the required two-thirds majority to become the next head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The 133 “Princes of the Church” who will vote are all those aged under 80, minus two who are absent for health reasons, will gather on Wednesday afternoon under the frescoed splendor of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.
Voting once that day and four times a day thereafter until a pope is chosen, they will stay at the nearby Santa Marta guesthouse but are forbidden from contacting the outside world until they have made their choice.
They will inform the waiting world of their progress by burning their ballots and sending up smoke — black if no candidate has reached the two-thirds majority of votes, or white if they have a winner.
On Monday morning, technicians installed red curtains on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, where the new pontiff will make his first appearance.
New Telegraph