Electors

• The cardinals elect the pope and help him in his duties.Digital Vision/Valueline/Getty Images
  
  The College of Cardinals elects the new pope from its members. The cardinals are special priests who have high positions in the Church hierarchy -- second in rank only to the pope -- and help the pope administer the Church. Only the pope may appoint cardinals, who come from all over the world. Only cardinals under the age of 80 can vote for a new pope. As of July 2011, the College of Cardinals consisted of 199 members, but only 96 of them were eligible to vote for a new pope.
  
  

The Conclave

• The Sistine Chapel is the scene of the conclave.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The secretive process of papal selection, called a conclave, occurs in the Sistine Chapel, where the cardinals remain secluded during voting. The cardinals take an oath to maintain the secrecy of the balloting; if any cardinal violates the oath, he will be excommunicated, or cut off from the Church. Each cardinal writes the name of his nominee on a piece of paper, and the camerlengo and his assistants tally the votes. A cardinal receiving two-thirds of the votes becomes pope. Pope John Paul II amended the process in 1996 so that if no cardinal receives the necessary two-thirds after a certain number of ballots, the nominee who wins a simple majority should become pope. No conclave in the last 200 years has lasted beyond five days.
  
  

Black Versus White Smoke

• No matter the outcome of each vote, the ballots are destroyed. The ballots are burned in a specially designed stove attached to a chimney in the Sistine Chapel. Anyone gathered in St. Peter's Square can see the smoke spewing from the chimney. The smoke's color provides the public with a sign of the outcome of the balloting. If no unanimous decision is reached, just the ballots are burned, producing black smoke. If the cardinals elect a pope, the ballots are burned with some chemicals to produce white smoke. At the same time the white smoke billows out of the chimney, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica are rung to dispel any doubts about the smoke's color.
  
  

After the Balloting

• The dean of the College of Cardinals must ensure the elected cardinal will accept the position of pope. If the cardinal answers in the affirmative, the dean asks under what name the new pope wants to be known. The pope dons his papal vestments and skull cap. The proto-deacon of the College of Cardinals steps onto the balcony and announces to the public, "Habemus Papam," which is Latin for "We have a pope." The pope then gives his first blessing to the crowd. The pope's inauguration occurs later, with all the pomp and ceremony befitting Christ's representative on Earth.