Secluded in the Sistine Chapel, 133 cardinals of the Catholic Church began casting their votes for a new pope on Wednesday. This conclave is one of the most unpredictable for decades. Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was Pope Francis’s dutiful No. 2 at the Vatican, would be the obvious successor. But many cardinals are also doubtful that this rather low-key career diplomat has the pizzazz to make a good pope. The central question of the 2025 conclave is: Who can beat Parolin? Read more at the link in our bio. Photos: ZUMA Press, Eloisa Lopez/Reuters, Riccardo De Luca/AP, Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images, Dylan Martinez/Reuters, Christopher Furlong/Getty Images, Stefano Costantino/ZUMA Press, Massimo Percossi/Shutterstock, Alessia Giuliani/ZUMA Press (Corrects previous version of this post, which has been deleted, that misstated Cardinal Péter Erdő’s age. He is 72.)