Papal conclave to elect successor of Pope Francis to begin on May 7, Vatican announces

The papal conclave to elect the next pope will start on May 7, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni confirmed on Monday.

Over 130 cardinals will be able to vote for a successor for Francis, and a two-thirds majority is needed to elect the new head of the Roman Catholic Church, as per reports.

The announcement follows the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, which attracted world leaders and hundreds of thousands of mourners to the Vatican to honour the late pontiff.

The choice will determine whether the next pontiff will continue Francis' reforms, with his focus on the poor and marginalized and the environment, or whether they will choose a pontiff closer in style to conservative predecessors like Benedict XVI focused on doctrine.

Preparations at Sistine Chapel

The Vatican has closed the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect the next pope after the death of Pope Francis on April 21 at age 88.

Key is preparing the Sistine Chapel for the red-robed cardinals who will gather at the Vatican in the heart of Rome to choose the next pope in an ancient process.

One key task is installing the chimney where ballots will be burned after votes.

The cardinals will enter solemnly to participate in a secretive process said to be guided by the holy spirit that will result in the selection of the next leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic church.

For inspiration, the cardinals will also have the great beauty of the frescoes painted by Michelangelo and other renowned Renaissance artists.

The most recognizable is Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, showing God's outstretched hand imparting the divine spark of life to the first man.

The Sistine Chapel is named after Pope Sixtus IV, an art patron who oversaw the construction of the main papal chapel in the 15th century. But it was a later pontiff, Pope Julius II, who commissioned the works by Michelangelo, who painted the ceiling depicting scenes from Genesis from 1508 and 1512 and later returned to paint the Last Judgement on one of the walls.