[Conclave prep latest]: Tomorrow’s schedule

With the conclave set to start on the afternoon of May 7 (at 4:30 p.m.), the cardinals have spiritual work to do and have asked the prayers of the faithful.

Tomorrow, the cardinals are expected to arrive at the Apostolic Palace shortly before 4:00 p.m. to begin the ceremony marking the start of the conclave.

Only one ballot is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, and the first smoke is expected to emerge from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel around 7:00 p.m.

On the following days, the cardinals will gather at the Apostolic Palace at around 7:45 a.m. to celebrate Mass in the Pauline Chapel, followed by two ballots in the morning. If the first morning ballot results in the election of a pope, white smoke could appear at around 10:30 a.m. Otherwise, smoke — black or white — will emerge, but only after the second ballot, around noon.

If the electoral process continues, the cardinals will return to Santa Marta around 12:30 p.m. for lunch.

They will return to the Apostolic Palace at 4 p.m. and begin voting around 4:30 p.m. If the election takes place during the first ballot in the afternoon, white smoke will appear around 5:30 p.m. Otherwise, black or white smoke will appear around 7 p.m., after a second ballot.

Cardinal-electors will have a chance to feel like school kids as they drop off their phones at the Casa Santa Marta, not to get them back until the conclave is over.

This measure is intended to ensure “the atmosphere of prayer and concentration” necessary for the election of the new pope, the Vatican spokesman explained.

Vatican cell networks will be deactivated at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7. They will only be reactivated after “the announcement of the election of the sovereign pontiff, pronounced from the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica."

The spokesman assured that these measures will have no impact on the work of journalists in the press room or in St. Peter's Square, which is connected to mobile phone networks located in the Italian territory.

Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta, admitted this morning that he's tired: He landed in Rome last evening from the Indonesian capital after an 18-hour flight.

This means that only one cardinal out of the 133 expected electors is now missing for the conclave.

On Saturday, the Holy See Press Office confirmed that Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic would be arriving in Rome at the last minute due to health problems.

The ninth General Congregation was held Saturday, attended by 177 cardinals, including 127 electors. The number of cardinal electors present in Rome now stands at 131, with only two missing.

Those two cardinals, including Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo, are expected to arrive in the coming days. Cardinal Puljic originally said he would not be able to participate because of health reasons, but his doctors eventually cleared the trip and he is expected to vote from his room at the Casa Santa Marta.

The cardinals' rooms at the residence where Pope Francis lived are expected to be ready by Monday. Between the evening of Tuesday, May 6, and the morning of Wednesday, May 7, before the Mass "Pro eligendo romano pontefice," the cardinals are expected to move into their rooms. They will then be isolated from the world during the conclave.

A chimney was set up on the roof of the Sistine Chapel and two stoves were installed to produce the famous black or white smoke, revealing the results of the votes.

The operations were carried out by the Vatican Fire Brigade, founded in 1941 and made up of around 30 men. They are equipped with a few emergency vehicles and a large ladder. On Vatican territory, the firefighters ensure the extinction of fires, and also carry out rescue operations, accident prevention, and the control of the firefighting equipment of the small state.

Notable endeavors in recent years have been the rescue of Pope Francis when he was stuck in the elevator, and the rescue of a cat who was stranded at the top of St. Peter's.

The director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni, reported that more than 180 cardinals, including more than 120 electors, participated in the 8th General Congregation this May 2 morning, after a one-day break on May 1. Some of them arrived for the first time today and therefore took their oath of secrecy.

Four cardinal electors are yet to arrive in Rome, Bruni reported. To date, 133 cardinals are scheduled to participate in the conclave.

On the morning of May 2, 2025, five days before the opening of the conclave (May 7), workers installed the famous chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, from which smoke will emerge to indicate the outcome of the votes.

The copper pipe visible from St. Peter's Square, to the right of the basilica, is connected to two stoves located 30 meters (100 feet) below. One of them will be used to burn the ballots and the other to produce the smoke. Black smoke means no consensus. White smoke means a new pope has been elected.

In 2013, the cast iron stove used to burn the ballots was cylindrical in shape, 1 meter high and 45 centimeters wide. It was used for the first time during the 1939 conclave, which led to the election of Pius XII.

Rectangular in shape but similar in size, the second stove, which was used for the first time in April 2005, produces smoke using an electronic system. The tubes leading from the two stoves meet about two meters above the ground to form a single chimney. A special system of electric resistors and ventilation improves the upward flow of smoke.

May 1 is a Vatican holiday for the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, and the cardinals did not hold a general congregation.

The next briefing by the director of the Press Office will take place at midday on May 2.

Meanwhile, preparations for the physical spaces of the conclave have made headway. The famous chimney, which allows black or white smoke to escape, is expected to be installed soon on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.

Likewise, accommodation for the cardinals is being arranged both at Casa Santa Marta and the neighboring residence. The cardinals' official transfer to their conclave rooms is expected to take place after Mass on May 7.

On May 7, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the votive Mass for the Election of the Pope (Pro Eligendo Papa), which will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The conclave will officially begin at 4:30 p.m. with a prayer service in the Pauline Chapel, attended by the cardinal-electors who will pray the Litany of the Saints before entering in procession into the Sistine Chapel.

They will sing the Veni Creator and then make their solemn oath to faithfully fulfill the Munus Petrinum if they are elected pope and to maintain absolute secrecy regarding the conclave.

The Vatican has said two cardinals who are under age 80 will not participate in the conclave due to health reasons. There has not been an official announcement regarding who they are, but according to a Vatican source consulted by I.MEDIA , they are 79-year-old Kenyan John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi, and 79-year-old Spaniard Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia.

Cardinal Njue, who participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Francis, has an unusual story surrounding his date of birth. It was initially set at 1944, and then the Vatican registered it as January 1, 1946, which granted him an additional period of time as an elector.

With the withdrawal of these two cardinals, the number of participants falls to 133. Eighty-nine votes will be needed to reach a two-thirds majority.

Nine more cardinal electors are still expected in Rome. According to a Vatican source, three of them have announced their imminent arrival, and six have not yet responded.

Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo, had initially said he would not be able to attend due to his health. But then it was announced that doctors gave their okay and he will ultimately be present despite his health and should be able to vote from his room at the Casa Santa Marta.

The cardinals gathered in the general congregation issued a statement at midday on April 30, 2025, in which they said they feel "the need to be supported by the prayers of all the faithful."

Declaring themselves "aware of the responsibility to which they are called," they addressed "an invitation to the People of God to experience this ecclesial moment as an event of grace and spiritual discernment, listening to the will of God."

The general congregations, which are held in the presence of all the cardinals, regardless of age, are scheduled to continue until Tuesday, May 6, before the conclave begins on May 7 at 4:30 p.m. According to several cardinals, the conclave could last "two or three days."