The world was basically holding its breath. It was March 2013, and for the first time in nearly 600 years, a pope hadn't died—he’d just quit. Pope Benedict XVI had stepped down, leaving a massive vacuum in the Vatican and a lot of confused Catholics wondering what came next. When the 115 cardinals filed into the Sistine Chapel, nobody really knew how long they’d be trapped under Michelangelo’s ceiling.
But then, the white smoke came. It was fast. Surprisingly fast.
If you’re wondering how many rounds of voting for Pope Francis it actually took to get that "Habemus Papam" announcement, the answer is five. Just five ballots spread across two days.
The First Night: A Room Full of Confusion
The conclave officially kicked off on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12. After the famous "Extra omnes!" (everyone out!) was shouted and the heavy doors were locked, the cardinals got down to business.
That first evening, they held exactly one round of voting.
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It was a bit of a mess, honestly. According to later accounts and leaks—like those detailed by Vatican expert Gerard O’Connell—no one was even close to the finish line. You need a two-thirds majority to win, which in 2013 meant 77 votes. On that first ballot, the votes were scattered everywhere. Reports suggest that about 23 different cardinals received at least one vote.
Cardinal Angelo Scola of Italy was the supposed frontrunner, but he only pulled about 30 votes. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the man who would become Francis, was right on his heels with 26. The black smoke billowed out of the chimney that night at 7:06 PM. No pope yet.
Day Two: The Bergoglio Momentum
Wednesday, March 13, is when things got real. The cardinals usually do two votes in the morning and two in the afternoon.
- Round 2: Bergoglio’s numbers started to climb. The "stopgap" votes—votes people cast for someone they don't think will win just to see how the room feels—started moving toward him.
- Round 3: By the end of the morning session, it was clear this was becoming a two-horse race between Scola and Bergoglio, but the momentum was swinging toward the Americas.
- Round 4: This happened in the early afternoon. Bergoglio was now just a handful of votes away from the magic number of 77. The tension in the chapel was thick enough to cut with a knife.
The Weirdness of the Fifth Ballot
The final round—the fifth round of voting for Pope Francis—almost didn't happen correctly. There’s this crazy detail that Francis himself later confirmed in a book: during one of the counts, a cardinal accidentally put an extra, blank piece of paper inside his ballot.
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Even though it was blank and didn't change the tally, the rules are incredibly strict. If the number of papers doesn't match the number of cardinals, the whole thing is scrapped. They had to burn those ballots and vote again immediately.
So, technically, the "fifth" successful ballot was the charm. Bergoglio didn't just scrape by; he reportedly surged way past the 77-vote requirement, landing somewhere in the 90s.
Why It Moved So Quickly
Most people expected a long, drawn-out fight between the "Roman" faction (the Vatican insiders) and the reformers. So why did it only take five rounds?
Honestly, the cardinals were ready for a change. Bergoglio had given a short, powerhouse speech during the "General Congregations" (the meetings before the conclave) where he talked about the Church needing to go to the "peripheries." It resonated. People realized that if they didn't pick him, they might be stuck in the Sistine Chapel for a week.
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The Timeline at a Glance
To keep it simple, here’s how the 24-hour whirlwind looked:
- March 12 (Evening): 1 ballot, no winner (Black smoke).
- March 13 (Morning): 2 ballots, no winner (Black smoke).
- March 13 (Afternoon): 2 ballots, success on the second one (White smoke at 7:06 PM).
If you’re looking to understand the mechanics of the papacy today, keep an eye on the current College of Cardinals. Francis has appointed over 60% of the men who will vote for his successor. While the 2013 conclave was fast, the next one could be even more unpredictable because the "voters" are now from all over the globe—many of them have never even met each other in person.
The best way to stay ahead is to look at the list of "Papabili" (the men considered "pope-able") about once a year. Names like Cardinal Tagle or Cardinal Zuppi are the ones people are whispering about now. Understanding how Francis won in 2013 helps you see the pattern: look for the person who isn't campaigning, but who everyone seems to be listening to when the room goes quiet.
Check the official Vatican press releases if you want the dry, technical rules, but for the real drama, look for memoirs from the cardinals who were actually in the room. That's where the real story lives.