Roman Catholic cardinals will soon gather beneath Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who retired in February.

Before entering the conclave, the cardinals will have taken a vow of “inviolable secrecy” to never discuss the election. They will wear scarlet satin, symbolic of their willingness to die for the faith, and remain sequestered until they reach a two-thirds-plus-one majority. Ballots are burned after each vote. White smoke from a Vatican chimney indicates they’ve made their choice and the newly elected pope retires to the Room of Tears to don the white silk vestments symbolic of his new rank.