Overview

• Cardinals have completed two days of voting in the Sistine Chapel, with no candidate yet achieving the necessary 89 votes to become the 267th pope.
• The conclave, the largest and most diverse in history, includes 133 cardinal-electors from roughly 70 countries, reflecting Pope Francis’s efforts to internationalize the Church.
• Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines and Pietro Parolin of Italy are seen as leading contenders, though no clear front-runner has emerged.
• Voting follows strict secrecy protocols, with cardinals sequestered and communication with the outside world entirely cut off until a decision is reached.
• The next pope will face significant challenges, including addressing internal Church divisions, geopolitical tensions, and the global clerical sex abuse crisis.