Cardinals to start conclave to elect new pope on March 12

The eyes of the world will be turned to the Vatican next Tuesday. The Vatican has confirmed that the cardinals will start the conclave to elect the new pope on March 12.

Pope Benedict XVI officially retired as head of the Roman Catholic Church on Feb. 28, leaving the Vatican in a white helicopter. His new title is pope emeritus.

Reuters reports that cardinals around the world debated for five days about when they will hold the vote in the Sistine Chapel before deciding to do it on Tuesday. There will be 115 cardinals under the age of 80 taking part in the vote.

A pope can only be chosen with two-thirds majority, or 77 votes. This could take days, although it only took 24 hours to decide who would succeed Pope John Paul II in 2005.

According to CBS News, there had been debate among European and American cardinals, with some believing that there was no need to rush to pick a new pope. However, Reuters notes that there was the feeling that one needed to be selected soon so a pope could lead the Church during Easter celebrations.