Conclave

Since I brought up Dan Brown in my last post and the Pope has recently resigned, now seems like a very appropriate time to bring up conclave. As anyone who has read or seen Angels and Demons knows that conclave figures rather prominently in its plot line. So, I thought I might give a basic overview of the process. Basically, out of the 194 total cardinals, 120 of them are allowed to be eligible to be elected to the papacy. These 120 must be less than 80 years old, and are transported between St. Martha's House and the Sistine Chapel once conclave begins. There, they hold votes twice a day and are overseen by three scrutineers elected by the College of Cardinals. Smoke is sent out to the public to indicate the results of the votes-black smoke if the vote was inconclusive and white smoke if a two thirds plus one count has occurred and a new Pope has been elected. That Pope will then serve until his death or retirement.
Here's the link to the website that contained this information!
http://people.howstuffworks.com/papacy3.htm