Following Pope Francis’ funeral and burial at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore outside the Vatican walls in Rome, the Catholic Church is preparing to elect a new pope. The conclave will take place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, which will remain closed to the public from Monday until the vote ends. The chapel's ceilings are adorned with scenes painted between 1508 and 1512 from the Old and New Testaments, including "The Creation of Adam,” in which God reaches with his finger to touch the outstretched hand of Adam.

Of the 252 cardinals worldwide, 135 cardinal electors are eligible to vote for the new pope. A cardinal must be under age 80 to participate in the election. If voting begins on the afternoon of the first day, there will be only one ballot that day. On subsequent days, four ballots are held daily—two in the morning and two in the afternoon—until one candidate receives two-thirds of the votes. After the votes are counted, all ballots are burned. If the ballot was inconclusive, a chimney over the Sistine Chapel emits black smoke. If a pope is elected, white smoke will billow out of the chimney. Then the new leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics will emerge onto the balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica as a senior cardinal cries: “Habemus Papam!,” which is Latin for “We have a pope!”

How long it will take to elect the next pope. German Cardinal Reinhard Marx told reporters Saturday the conclave would last just “a few days,” Agence France-Presse reported. But other cardinals are not as confident in a speedy process. “I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable,” Cardinal Jose Cobo, the Archbishop of Madrid, told El Pais.