Vatican Prepares Sistine Chapel For Cardinals To Vote On New Pope

VATICAN CITY – The conclave to elect a new pope kicks off Wednesday behind closed doors in the Sistine Chapel.

133 cardinals under age 80 will vote in total secrecy on who should lead the 1.4 billion-member Catholic church after Pope Francis’ death last month.

The race is wide open and no clear front-runner has emerged.

The Vatican says staff have prepared the “room of tears,” where the next pope will first don his new robes.

Until then, the cardinals are staying in Vatican guesthouses, cut off from the outside world.