VATICAN CITY: As they choose who will follow Pope Francis, cardinals participating in the covert conclave to choose a new Catholic pope started checking into two Vatican hotels on Tuesday. They will be cut off from the outside world for this meeting.
The conclave, which will begin Wednesday afternoon behind closed doors in the Sistine Chapel, will allow all cardinals under 80 to cast their votes for the next head of the Church, which has 1.4 billion members.
Francis passed away last month, and the race to succeed him is seen to be open. Several of the 133 cardinals who are anticipated to cast ballots in the conclave have stated that they are unsure, despite a few names being mentioned as potential front-runners.
