Francis’ successor will be selected by cardinals at the conclave that began on May 7. Cardinals, known as the “princes of the church,” rank just below the pope in the Roman Catholic Church; together, they are known as the College of Cardinals. When a pope dies, the college chooses a successor.

Plumes of white smoke streaming from a Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday signaled that a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church ― a faith with more than 1 billion followers ― had been selected by a two-thirds majority vote of the cardinals,