7 Secret Rules Cardinals Must Follow Before Electing a New Pope

7 Secret Rules Cardinals Must Follow Before Electing a New Pope Behind the walls of the Sistine Chapel in May 2025, 133 men were locked inside a sealed building with jammed cell signals, confiscated phones, and food inspected for hidden messages — and the rules governing this process have barely changed since 1274. Most people think electing a pope is just a ceremonial church vote, but it's actually the most secretive electoral process still operating in the modern world. These seven rules are so strict that breaking even one carries automatic excommunication — permanent banishment from the Catholic Church. Some of them will genuinely shock you. From a mysterious smoke recipe the Vatican kept hidden for over a century to the catastrophic election that lasted nearly three years and forced an entire city to starve its own cardinals into a decision, the history behind the papal conclave is darker and more dramatic than anything you've seen in the news. This video breaks down all seven secret rules — ranked from surprising to absolutely jaw-dropping — uncovering the hidden power, ancient tradition, and iron-clad secrecy that surrounds one of the world's most powerful institutions. Subscribe for weekly videos that pull back the curtain on the systems and secrets that quietly shape our world. For more information : [email protected] 1. USCCB https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/how-c... 2. Vatican News (120 electors) https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/ne... 3. America Magazine https://www.americamagazine.org/faith... 4. Wikipedia (Papal Conclave) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papalco... 5. PBS News https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/ho... 6. CBS News (Conclave) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-papa... 7. Archdiocese of Boston https://bostoncatholic.org/election-o... 8. The Catholic Thing https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2024... 9. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/world/the-vat... 10. EWTN (Age Limit) https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/libr... 11. College of Cardinals Report https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/... 12. Detroit Catholic https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/... 13. Wikipedia (College of Cardinals) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College... 14. Aleteia https://aleteia.org/2025/04/25/what-h... 15. National Catholic Reporter (Over-80) https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vat... 16. America Magazine (Secrecy) https://www.americamagazine.org/faith... 17. Vatican News (Oath) https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican... 18. Wikipedia (Conclave) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conclave 19. PBS News (Oath) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/ah... 20. WION News https://www.wionews.com/world/papal-c... 21. Catholic Bishops' Conference https://www.cbcew.org.uk/observance-o... 22. Quora (Smoke) https://www.quora.com/How-is-the-blac... 23. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/conclave-... 24. Deseret News https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/05... 25. ChemistryViews https://www.chemistryviews.org/the-ch... 26. IFLScience https://www.iflscience.com/how-is-the... 27. Mineralogical Society https://news.mineralogicalsocietyofdc... 28. CBS News (Smoke) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/conclave... 29. Unam Sanctam Catholicam http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot... 30. Maclean's https://macleans.ca/general/the-rules... 31. PhilStar https://www.philstar.com/headlines/20... 32. Jimmy Akin https://jimmyakin.com/2005/04/success...