Papal conclave, 2013
So, you know how sometimes in a big group of people, they need to choose a leader? Well, that's kind of what happened in the Vatican in 2013. The Vatican is a special place where the Pope, who is like the leader of all the Catholic people, lives.
Now, when the Pope who was there before, Pope Benedict XVI, decided he didn't want to be the Pope anymore, the Catholic Church needed to choose a new Pope. To do this, they have a special meeting called a "papal conclave."
During the papal conclave, all the really important Catholic leaders called Cardinals from around the world come together in the Vatican. You can think of these Cardinals like the most important people who help the Pope make important decisions.
But before they can start choosing who will be the new Pope, the Cardinals need to follow a lot of special rules. They go into a special building called the Sistine Chapel, which has very famous paintings on the ceiling by someone named Michelangelo.
Once they are in the Sistine Chapel, they need to take an oath to keep everything a secret. This means they can't tell anyone from the outside world what they talk about during the meeting. It's like a big secret club!
The Cardinals then start voting to choose the new Pope. But they have to vote in a special way. They write the name of the person they want to be Pope on a little piece of paper and fold it up.
Then they put all the papers in a special container and someone counts them to see if any one person got the most votes. If one person gets at least two-thirds of the votes, then they become the new Pope!
But if no one gets that many votes, they keep voting again and again until someone finally gets enough votes.
In 2013, the Cardinals had to vote a few times before they finally chose someone. The person they chose was a Cardinal from Argentina, and his name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He became the new Pope and took the name Pope Francis.
When the smoke comes out of a special chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, it tells everyone outside that a new Pope has been chosen. If the smoke is black, it means they haven't chosen someone yet. But if the smoke is white, it means they have chosen someone to be the new Pope!
So that's how they chose the new Pope in 2013 through a papal conclave. It's like a big meeting where the Cardinals get together, follow special rules, and vote to choose who will be the new leader of the Catholic Church.
Now, when the Pope who was there before, Pope Benedict XVI, decided he didn't want to be the Pope anymore, the Catholic Church needed to choose a new Pope. To do this, they have a special meeting called a "papal conclave."
During the papal conclave, all the really important Catholic leaders called Cardinals from around the world come together in the Vatican. You can think of these Cardinals like the most important people who help the Pope make important decisions.
But before they can start choosing who will be the new Pope, the Cardinals need to follow a lot of special rules. They go into a special building called the Sistine Chapel, which has very famous paintings on the ceiling by someone named Michelangelo.
Once they are in the Sistine Chapel, they need to take an oath to keep everything a secret. This means they can't tell anyone from the outside world what they talk about during the meeting. It's like a big secret club!
The Cardinals then start voting to choose the new Pope. But they have to vote in a special way. They write the name of the person they want to be Pope on a little piece of paper and fold it up.
Then they put all the papers in a special container and someone counts them to see if any one person got the most votes. If one person gets at least two-thirds of the votes, then they become the new Pope!
But if no one gets that many votes, they keep voting again and again until someone finally gets enough votes.
In 2013, the Cardinals had to vote a few times before they finally chose someone. The person they chose was a Cardinal from Argentina, and his name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He became the new Pope and took the name Pope Francis.
When the smoke comes out of a special chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, it tells everyone outside that a new Pope has been chosen. If the smoke is black, it means they haven't chosen someone yet. But if the smoke is white, it means they have chosen someone to be the new Pope!
So that's how they chose the new Pope in 2013 through a papal conclave. It's like a big meeting where the Cardinals get together, follow special rules, and vote to choose who will be the new leader of the Catholic Church.