The last conclave to last more than a week was in 1831, when Pope Gregory XVI was elected after 51 days of voting. Here’s a breakdown of how the length of conclaves has changed in recent years.

The conclave, always held between 15 to 20 days of a pope's death, is when the College of Cardinals comes together to choose who will be the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

As such, a papal conclave was scheduled to begin May 7, 2025, for 133 elector cardinals from around the world to convene inside the Apostolic Palace and vote for who among them should be the new pope.

Like his predecessors, Pope Francis was selected using an age-old method -- a system known as the Papal conclave. Author: Melissa Hernandez De La Cruz Published: 10:40 AM CST February 25, 2025 ...

The longest papal conclave in the time period analyzed was for Benedict XIV, which lasted six months — 182 days to be exact. But this isn’t the longest conclave in history.

All eyes on the Sistine Chapel with papal conclave underway Black smoke rose up over Saint Peter's Square late Wednesday, signaling the cardinals were unsuccessful in selecting a new pope.