The conclave to select the next pope has begun after Catholic cardinals from across the world filed into the Sistine Chapel Wednesday before sealing themselves inside.

On Wednesday afternoon, red-hatted clerics who carry the same weight and dignity as princes within the Catholic Church entered the Sistine Chapel for the papal conclave to choose Pope Francis‘s successor.

More than 130 Catholic cardinals on Wednesday began the secretive, centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.