The Vatican has announced that a conclave to elect the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis will begin on May 7.

The date was decided during a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican on Monday, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on April 21 aged 88.

A total of 135 cardinals from across the world, all below the age of 80, are eligible to take part in the secret vote to decide who will be the next head of the 1.4-billion-member Church.

The Vatican on Monday closed the iconic Sistine Chapel, where voting will take place, to begin preparations.

The conclave’s members cast their votes via secret ballots, a process overseen by nine randomly selected cardinals. A two-thirds majority is traditionally required to elect the new pope, and voting continues until this threshold is met.

After each round, the ballots are burned with chemicals, producing either black or white smoke, signalling to the world about the outcome. Black smoke signals that no decision has been made, while white smoke means a new pope has been elected. Once the pope is elected, a top cardinal announces his name from Saint Peter’s Basilica.