Voting for new Pope set to begin with cardinals entering secret conclave

On Wednesday evening, 133 cardinals will vote to elect the Catholic Church's 267th pope, the BBC reports. 

The day will begin at 10:00 (09:00 BST) with a mass in St Peter's Basilica. The service, which will be televised, will be presided over by Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old Cardinal Dean who was also the celebrant of Pope Francis' funeral, BBC reports. 

In the early afternoon, mobile signal within the territory of the Vatican will be deactivated to prevent anyone taking part in the conclave from contacting the outside world. 

Around 16:15 (15:15 BST), the 133 cardinal electors will gather in the Pauline Chapel and form a procession to the Sistine Chapel, according to the BBC. 

Once in the Sistine Chapel, one hand resting on a copy of the Gospel, the cardinals will pronounce the prescribed oath of secrecy which precludes them from ever sharing details about how the new Pope was elected, according to the BBC. 

If the vote doesn't yield the two-third majority needed to elect the new pope, the cardinals go back to guesthouse Casa Santa Marta for dinner. It is then, on the sidelines of the voting process, that important conversations among the cardinals take place and consensus begins to coalesce around different names, according to the BBC. 

Outside the Sistine Chapel thousands of faithful will be looking up to the chimney to the right of St Peter's Basilica, waiting for the white plume of smoke to signal that the next pope has been elected.