The papal election has begun in the Vatican. When to expect white smoke

The Vatican has begun elections to replace Pope Francis , who died on April 21. The results are expected by the end of the week, Reuters and Corriere della Sera reported.

The election process began at 10:00 local time (11:00 Kyiv time) with a public Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

In the afternoon, the cardinals will leave the Vatican hotel. At 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. Kyiv time), a procession will begin that will take them to the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals will not leave until the new 267th pontiff is elected.

As Reuters notes, no pope has been elected on the first day of a conclave in recent centuries, so voting could last several days.

The average duration of the last 10 conclaves has been just over three days, and none has lasted more than five days. The last conclave in 2013, which elected Pope Francis, lasted two days.

There will be only one vote on Wednesday. After that, cardinals will be able to vote up to four times a day. Black smoke from the chimney on the roof of the chapel will indicate an inconclusive vote, while white smoke and the ringing of bells will signal that the election has taken place.

This time, 133 cardinals from 70 countries are participating in the conclave, compared to 115 cardinals from 48 countries in 2013.

The main contenders are considered to be Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.

Other potential candidates include Frenchman Jean-Marc Avelin, Hungarian Peter Erdo, American Robert Prevost and Italian Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

As in the Middle Ages, cardinals are forbidden from communicating with outsiders during the conclave, and the Vatican has taken high-tech measures to ensure secrecy, including the use of jamming devices to prevent eavesdropping.

• Pope Francis died on the morning of Monday, April 21. Almost a month earlier, the pope had been discharged from hospital after undergoing serious treatment for bilateral pneumonia . He was the 266th head of the Roman Catholic Church and had held the post since March 13, 2013. The Vatican said the pontiff died of a stroke and irreversible cardiovascular collapse.
• On April 26, the Pope's funeral ceremony began in the Vatican: the funeral mass for the pontiff lasted an hour and a half . Many world leaders arrived at the ceremony, including Presidents Zelensky and Trump, who met for the first time since the dispute at the White House before the funeral.