Cardinals are currently gathered in Vatican City and are barred from any contact with the outside world until the new pope is selected. Here’s everything you need to know about the ongoing papal conclave.
Here’s how to live stream the reveal of the Pope right now
Viewers wanting the most up-to-date news on the 2025 papal conclave have a few options in the streaming world.
The official NBC News YouTube channel and Peacock’s NBC News NOW channel are fantastic resources for keeping on top of the search for the next pope. Of course, when the white smoke finally billows from Apostolic Palace, the breaking news will be covered on NBC’s linear stations in addition to its streaming platforms.
Coverage of the conclave is ongoing. If you have Peacock Premium Plus, click “Channels” on your Peacock homepage to access NBC linear and your local NBC affiliate, which will be giving conclave updates regularly.
NBC News’ around-the-clock live blog is a great resource, too.
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What is the 2025 papal conclave?
Following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, and the funeral services that followed, the Catholic Church is now in the process of selecting its next pope via a papal conclave. In short, the leaders of the Church are sequestered until coming to a two-thirds majority decision on who the next pope will be.
Of course, it’s a little more complicated than that. According to NBC News, the selection will be announced with white smoke coming from the Apostolic Palace. The new pope will then reveal himself and greet the world from the balcony.
Several rounds of voting have already been completed, yielding black smoke. This means no candidate has amassed the necessary two-thirds majority vote yet, leading to another round of voting.
How long will the 2025 papal conclave take?
Conclaves are usually complete within a few days.
In 2013, Pope Francis was elected after two days of voting. In fact, no papal conclave since 1922 has lasted more than four days, when Pope Pius XI was elected in five days, according to NBC News.
About the movie Conclave
Conclave, a fictional movie inspired by the 2005 and 2013 papal conclaves, was praised by critics and viewers, amassing countless accolades during award season. The movie earned a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. It also received eight Academy Award nominations, winning Best Adapted Screenplay.
