Pope Francis's papal conclave in 2013 lasted two days. The cardinals held one round of voting on the first day and four rounds on the second day, requiring just five rounds of voting in total to elect him
. More generally, recent papal conclaves have typically lasted between two to five days, with the last ten conclaves averaging about three days. The 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis was among the shortest in modern history
. For context, historically conclaves could last much longer, with the longest ever lasting nearly three years (1,006 days) in the 13th century. However, modern conclaves are much shorter due to reforms that require cardinals to be secluded and voting to proceed more efficiently
