The great doors of the Sistine Chapel shut Wednesday after the cry of “extra omnes” — Latin for “all out” — as 133 cardinals began the secretive, centuries-old ritual of electing a new pope to lead the Catholic Church,

With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals on Wednesday began the secretive, centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,

All 133 cardinals eligible to elect Pope Francis’s successor have arrived in Rome for the conclave. They will take their oaths to observe ‘absolute and perpetual secrecy’ in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday,

By Crispian Balmer, Joshua McElwee and Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals will begin the task on Wednesday of electing a new pope, locking themselves away from the world until they choose the man they hope can unite a diverse but divided global Church.