The right to elect the Roman Pontiff belongs exclusively to the Cardinals[operating under the authority and responsibility of the Camerlengo led by cardinal Dean] of Holy Roman Church. The election shall be conducted within the territory of Vatican City in Sistine Chapel by a secret Conclave after the funeral rites for the deceased Pope have been celebrated.
No Cardinal elector can be excluded from active or passive voice in the election of the Supreme Pontiff, for any reason.
But those who have reached their eightieth birthday before the day of the Roman Pontiff’s death or the day when the Apostolic See becomes vacant cannot vote.
The maximum number of Cardinal electors must not exceed one hundred and twenty.
Any other ecclesiastical dignitary or the intervention of any lay power of whatsoever grade or order is absolutely prohibited.
If the Apostolic See should become vacant during the celebration of an Ecumenical Council or of a Synod of Bishops being held in Rome or in any other place in the world, the election of the new Pope is to be carried out solely and exclusively by the Cardinal electors and not by the Council or the Synod of Bishops.
The Council or Synod shall be suspended in the above case.
From the moment when the Apostolic See is vacant, the Cardinal electors who are present must wait fifteen full days for those who are absent and the beginning of the election can be deferred for few days for any serious reason but not more than twenty days.
