Greetings. It's Wednesday, May the 7th, 2025. Welcome to Denison Forum's Daily Article podcast. Today's podcast is written by Denison Forum co-founder and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison, and narrated by Chris Elkins.

The papal conclave that begins today will be the most geographically diverse in the church's

2000-year history with clerics from 70 countries participating.

They have been meeting at the Vatican nearly every day since April the 22nd, the day after

Pope Francis's death, to discuss matters facing the global church. This afternoon,

one of the most famous and yet secretive traditions in history will officially begin as the

Cardinals meet to elect the church's 267th Pope. Here's what you need to know and why it matters to

all of us. In 1268, Cardinals gathered to elect a new Pope.

They became deadlocked and continued meeting for almost three years.

Local magistrates and residents became so frustrated that they locked the Cardinals into a room until a decision was reached.

This is where the term conclave originates, meaning with a key in Latin.

The cardinals were fed only bread and water passed through a window. When this did not expedite the

process, the magistrate removed the roof of the room to, quote, let the Holy Spirit in.

This led to the election of Pope Gregory the 10th, who laid the foundation for the

conclave process still used today. The first conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel was in 1492.

However, the chapel did not become the sole location for papal elections until 1878.

Interestingly, the chapel, which was completed in

1881, was purportedly designed to match the dimensions of Solomon's temple. The tradition of burning

the ballots dates back to at least the year 1417. However, the iconic black and white smoke, the former when no pope is elected, and the latter when a new pope is chosen, was not introduced until 1914.

The appropriate smoke is produced by burning the ballots with a mix of chemicals.

Bells also chime once a new pope has been elected, a practice that began in 2005.

Catholics believe that Peter was the first pope, and that his remains are buried beneath the altar of St. Peter's Basilica.

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