how many votes to become pope

To become pope in the modern Catholic Church, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority of the votes from the cardinal electors gathered in a conclave.

Quick Scoop: How many votes to become pope?

In today’s rules, it’s not a fixed number of votes, but a fraction : at least two-thirds of all cardinals who are eligible and present at the conclave. For example, for 133 cardinal electors (the number often cited for a current-style conclave), that means at least 89 votes are needed to elect a new pope.

Why two-thirds?

• The two-thirds rule is meant to ensure a broad consensus , not just a slim majority.

• Pope Benedict XVI explicitly confirmed that a two-thirds majority is always required and removed an earlier option that would have allowed a simple majority after long deadlock.

How it works in practice

• Only cardinals under age 80 at the start of the conclave can vote.

• They vote in secret inside the Sistine Chapel, usually up to four times a day after the first day.

• If no one reaches two-thirds, voting continues (with pauses for prayer and discussion) until one candidate does.

• Once a candidate passes the two-thirds threshold and accepts, he becomes pope; white smoke from the chapel signals to the world that a pope has been chosen.

In short: how many votes to become pope?
As many as it takes to reach two-thirds of the cardinals voting —for 133 electors, that’s 89 votes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.