The Conclave Explained: Vatican Traditions and the Future of the Catholic Church
- What can we expect from the 2025 papal conclave? Let’s take a look.
- Click here and find out the latest conclave odds?
What is a conclave?
On Wednesday, the third papal conclave of the 21st century took place in Vatican City. The first took place in 2005 following the death of Pope John Paul II, the second in 2013 after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
The process for choosing the leader of the Catholic Church has played out over the course of two millennia, but on Wednesday, the papal conclave saw all of the world’s cardinals convene in the Holy See in order to select a new leader.
A two-thirds majority of cardinal electors is required in order to achieve the papacy, but round one of the voting failed to result in the election of a new pope. Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday night, indicating that no candidate received the necessary two-thirds necessary in voting.
The 133 cardinals will return to the Sistine Chapel for a second round of voting on Thursday. if no clear-cut winner emerges, they continue to vote until a successor is chosen.
Whilst there are currently 252 cardinals across the world who are employed by the Catholic Church and who serve for life after being appointed by the Pope, only 135 are eligible to vote and contend for the highest office due to being under the age of 80 on the day of the most recent Pope’s death.
With two of those missing out due to health issues, 133 will decide the future of the Catholic Church. They will continue to be sequestered from society and unable to learn any outside news as they conduct their voting in secrecy.
The BetUS sportsbook has you covered with several intriguing next pope betting odds that allow you to place bets on what the new Pope’s nationality/continent/papal name will be as well as how many rounds of voting or days or voting will take place across the conclave.
Are There Sleeper Picks to Consider in Conclave Betting?
When it comes to crafting your best conclave predictions, there are quite a few things that are worth taking into account. For one, BetUS is offering a prop bet on whether the next Pope will be Black (+600).
There may very well have been a Black Pope, but we’ll never know for sure – Pope Victor I (189-199), Pope Miltiades (311-314), and Pope Gelasius I (492-496) all presided over the Church more than 1500 years ago and hailed from the Roman province of Africa which corresponded to the coastal parts of Tunisia, Libya and Algeria.
There are quite a few African candidates like Peter Turkson (+500), Robert Sarah (+1000) and Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (+1800) who are gaining steam in the race, and it’s why we could see our first-ever confirmed Black Pope.
Moreover, you can also place bets on the next Pope being from a country that has never had a Pope before (-200). This not only encompasses the African candidates but also the Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle (+150), who is the current frontrunner in the race alongside Pietro Parolin (+150).
Bet on the next Pope at BetUS!
Questions of the Day
Who are the frontrunners to become Pope?
It’s shaping up to be a photo finish between Luis Antonio Tagle and Pietro Parolin in the race for Pope.
Has there ever been a Black Pope?
There have been three African Popes dating back over 1500 years ago, but whether there has ever been a Black Pope or not, we’ll never know for sure.
