Papal conclaves have featured calls of election fraud and bribery so gauche that riches were wheeled in on donkey carts.

Explore the history of papal conclaves, from the longest and shortest elections to how we'll know when a new pope is chosen.

A guide to history’s most unusual Conclaves - as the next papal election begins - The history of papal elections features some surprising incidents ...

The longest conclave lasted almost three years. Thankfully, the timeframe has changed drastically in recent years.

Cardinal-electors take an oath to maintain “absolute and perpetual secrecy” concerning “all matters directly or indirectly ...

For nearly 180 years, papal conclaves have chosen a new pope in three to five days. In centuries past, they've taken a lot ...

Intelligence agencies have long gathered information to help their governments get a sense of who the next pope might be ...

The black and white smoke that emerges from the Sistine Chapel during a papal conclave is part of a longstanding tradition — ...

In case you were wondering if this concern was a new one, the second issue ever of America featured an editorial on papal conclaves in which the editors argued (wait for it) that Austria ...

The conclave to elect a new pope has begun, but how long will it last? Here's the longest and shortest a conclave has lasted in history.