Papal conclaves have featured calls of election fraud and bribery so gauche that riches were wheeled in on donkey carts.

Throughout the 20th century, only two conclaves lasted up to five days − Pope Pius X's election in 1903 and Pope Pius XI's ...

Intelligence agencies have long gathered information to help their governments get a sense of who the next pope might be ...

The black and white smoke that emerges from the Sistine Chapel during a papal conclave is part of a longstanding tradition — ...

Black smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on the evening of Wednesday, May 7, meaning that a new pope was not ...

Eighteen days after Pope Francis last appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, his successor -- the 267th pope -- ...

Black smoke again billowed out of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, the second day of the conclave, indicating that no new ...

The Sistine Chapel, with its awe-inspiring Renaissance frescoes, is a majestic stage for the Catholic Church’s most sacred ritual: the election of a new pope. But beneath the sacred decor, conclaves ...

Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle are among the favourites to succeed Pope Francis ...

“His murder began what most historians would agree was the worst period in the history of the papacy,” Frederic J. Baumgartner wrote in his book, “Behind Locked Doors: A History of the Papal ...

Papal conclaves don’t just elect the next pope — they mark turning points in the history of the Catholic Church and, often, ...

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