Conclave to elect new Pope to begin on May 7th

The conclave to elect the 267th Pope will begin on May 7th, following the conclusion of the Novemdiales Masses to pray for the eternal repose of the late Pope Francis.

By Lisa Zengarini & Devin Watkins

The Cardinals present in Rome have agreed to begin the conclave on May 7th, 2025.

The date was set on Monday morning by the approximately 180 cardinals present (just over a hundred of whom are electors) gathered for the fifth General Congregation in the Vatican. 

The conclave will take place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, which will remain closed to visitors during those days.

What happens during the conclave?

The conclave will be preceded by a solemn Eucharistic celebration with the votive Mass Pro Eligendo Papa, attended by the Cardinal electors.

In the afternoon, the Cardinal electors proceed in a solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel, where the Conclave begins to elect the new Pope.

At the end of the procession inside the Sistine Chapel, each Cardinal elector takes the oath as prescribed in paragraph 53 of Universi Dominici Gregis.

Through this oath, they commit, if elected, to faithfully fulfill the Munus Petrinum as Pastor of the Universal Church.

They also pledge to maintain absolute secrecy regarding everything related to the election of the Roman Pontiff and to refrain from supporting any attempts of external interference in the election.

At this point, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations proclaims extra omnes, meaning that all individuals who are not part of the Conclave must leave the Sistine Chapel.

Only the Master himself and the ecclesiastic designated to deliver the second meditation remain.

This meditation focuses on the grave responsibility that rests upon the electors and the necessity of acting with pure intentions for the good of the Universal Church, keeping only God before their eyes.

Once the meditation is delivered, both the ecclesiastic and the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations leave.

The Cardinal electors then recite prayers according to the Ordo Sacrorum Rituum Conclavis and listen to the Cardinal Dean, who asks whether they are ready to proceed with voting or if any clarifications regarding the rules and procedures.

All election procedures take place exclusively in the Sistine Chapel within the Vatican Apostolic Palace, which remains completely sealed off until the election is concluded.

Throughout the election process, the Cardinal electors must refrain from sending letters or engaging in conversations, including phone calls, except in cases of extreme urgency.

They are not allowed to send or receive messages of any kind, receive newspapers or magazines of any nature, or follow radio or television broadcasts.

How many votes are required to elect a Pope?

To validly elect a new Pope, a two-thirds majority of the electors present is required.

If the total number of electors is not evenly divisible by three, an additional vote is necessary.

If voting begins on the afternoon of the first day, there will be only one ballot. On subsequent days, two ballots are held in the morning and two in the afternoon.

After the votes are counted, all ballots are burned. If the ballot was inconclusive, a chimney positioned over the Sistine Chapel emits black smoke. If a Pope is elected, white smoke will billow out of the chimney.

If the electors fail to reach an agreement on a candidate after three days of inconclusive voting, a break of up to one day is allowed for prayer, free discussion among voters, and a brief spiritual exhortation by the Cardinal Proto-Deacon (Cardinal Dominique Mamberti).

What happens immediately after a new Pope is elected?

Once the Cardinals have elected a new Pope, the last of the Cardinal Deacons calls the Secretary of the College of Cardinals and the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations into the Sistine Chapel.

The Dean of the College, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, speaking on behalf of all the electors, asks for the elected candidate’s consent with the following words: “Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?”

Upon receiving consent, he then asks: “What name do you wish to be called?”

The functions of a notary, with two Ceremonial Officers as witnesses, are carried out by the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, who drafts the document of acceptance and records the chosen name.

From this moment, the newly-elected Pope acquires full and supreme authority over the universal Church. The Conclave ends immediately at this point.

The Cardinal electors then pay homage and pledge obedience to the new Pope, and thanks are given to God.

The Cardinal Proto-Deacon then announces to the faithful the election and the name of the new Pontiff with the famous line: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum; Habemus Papam.”

Immediately afterward, the new Pope gives the Apostolic Blessing Urbi et Orbi from the Loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The final step required is that, after the solemn inauguration ceremony of the Pontificate and within a suitable time, the new Pope formally takes possession of the Patriarchal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.

 

The upcoming Conclave opening on 7 May will be less Euro-centric than it has ever been before, with over three-quarters of the 135 Cardinal electors appointed by Pope Francis, who reshaped the College of Cardinals, extending a more "generous" gaze on the peripheries of the Church.

By Lisa Zengarini and Tiziana Campisi

The 135 Cardinals Electors of the College of Cardinals hail from 71 different countries across the five continents.

More than three-quarters of them (108)  were appointed by Pope Francis, while 22 were created by Benedict XVI, and five by St. John Paul II, making them the “veterans”  of the Conclave. They are: French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Croatian Cardinal Josip Bozanić , Cardinal Vinko Puljić from  Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana.

A less euro-centric body

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28/04/2025

Conclave to elect new Pope to begin on May 7th

During his 12 years of pontificate Pope Francis significantly reshaped the College of Cardinals, making it a less Euro-centric and a more international body. This reflected both the late Pope’s personal inclination to shift the centre of gravity of Catholicism toward the Global South, with a focus on the "peripheries”, and the broader trend that the Church of the future will likely have an increasingly non-European face.

For the first time, 12 nations will be represented by their native Cardinal electors. They include: Cardinals Chibly Langlois from Haiti; Arlindo Furtado Gomes from Cape Verde; Dieudonné Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic; John Ribat from Papua New Guinea; Sebastian Francis from Malaysia; Anders Arborelius from Sweden; Jean-Claude Hollerich from Luxembourg; Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva from Timor Leste; William Seng Chye Goh from Singapore; Adalberto Martínez Flores from Paraguay; Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla from South Sudan, and Cardinal Ladislav Nemet from Serbia.

53 Cardinals from Europe

However, Europe still carries a significant weight in the College of Cardinals. The old continent is represented  by 53 Cardinal electors (some of whom head Dioceses and Archdioceses in non-European countries, or serve as Apostolic Nuncios abroad or in the Curia), with Italy still having the largest number (19), followed by France (6) and Spain (5).

37 Cardinals from the Americas, 23 from Asia, 18 from Africa and 4 from Oceania

37 Cardinal electors are from the Americas (16 from North America, 4 from Central America, and 17 from South America), 23 from Asia, 18 from Africa, and 4 from Oceania

Thus, while the European Cardinals still represent the majority of those who will gather in the Conclave, the "rest of the world" now clearly surpasses Europe, with the Americas as a whole significantly increasing its “weight”.

Although regional representation alone won't determine the outcome of the election of the new Pope, which is also influenced  by other critical factors, the geographical aspect cannot be overlooked given the global impact of the Pope's role.

The ages of the Cardinal electors

Regarding the age of the Electors,  the youngest Cardinal in the College is the Australian Ukrainian-born Mikola Bychok, aged 45,  while the oldest is the Spaniard Carlos Osoro Sierra, aged 79.

Six Cardinals  were born in the Seventies : they are  Italian Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, the Vicar of the Diocese of Rome who will turn 55 this coming November;  Canadian Frank Leo (1971); Lithuanian Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, the Coadjutor Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (1972); Indian George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue (1973); Portuguese  Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar (1973), and Italian-born Giorgio Marengo (1974), Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, which will be represented for the first time ever in a Conclave.

Other age groups include 50 Cardinals born in the Fourties, 47 in the Fifties ,and  31 in the Sixties. The most represented birth year group is 1947, with 13 Cardinals aged or approaching 78.

33 Cardinals belonging to religious orders

Among the Cardinal electors, 33 belong to 18 different religious orders. The Salesians are the most represented with five members: Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Virgilio Do Carmo da Silva, Ángel Fernández Artime, Cristóbal López Romero, and Daniel Sturla Berhouet. Four belong the Order of Friars Minor (Luis Cabrera Herrera, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Jaime Spengler, and Leonardo Steiner) and four are Jesuits (Stephen Chow Sau-yan, Michael Czerny, Jean-Claude Hollerich, and Ángel Rossi). Three are Conventual Franciscans (François-Xavier Bustillo, Mauro Gambetti, and Dominique Mathieu).

Attending the Conclave will also be two Dominicans (Timothy Radcliffe and Jean-Paul Vesco), two Redemptorists (Mykola Bychok and Joseph Tobin), two members of the Divine Word Missionaries (Tarcisio Kikuchi and Ladislav Nemet), and one each from several other Congregations: Augustinian Robert Prevost,  Capuchin Fridolin Ambongo Besungu Discalced Carmelite Anders Arborelius, Cistercian Orani João Tempesta, Claretian Vicente Bokalic Iglic, Pius X Secular Institute member Gérald Lacroix, Lazarist Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Consolata Missionary Giorgio Marengo, Missionary of the Sacred Heart John Ribat, Scalabrinian Fabio Baggio, and Spiritan Dieudonné Nzapalainga.

Two absentees

Of the 135 Cardinals eligible to vote, two have confirmed they won’t be able to attend the Conclave for health reasons bringing  the total  down to 133.

Under the 1996 regulations, the cardinals are to be housed in a building inside the Vatican’s walls called the Domus Sanctae Marthae (St Martha’s House) and move from there to the Papal Palace and the Sistine Chapel for the actual voting process.

While they are moving to and from their new accommodation, they are forbidden to communicate with anyone not involved in the election.

During the vacancy of the Apostolic See, the Cardinals are to wear the usual black cassock with piping and the red sash, with skull-cap, pectoral cross and ring.

Others admitted to St Martha’s House for the duration of the Conclave and sworn to secrecy include:

The secretary of the College of Cardinals who acts as the secretary of the conclave,

Papal master of ceremonies along with two masters of ceremonies and two religious attached to the papal sacristy,

An ecclesiastic chosen to assist the cardinal dean or the cardinal taking his place,

Confessors

Two medical doctors,

Cooks and housekeepers.

At a suitable point, two ecclesiastics known for their sound doctrine, wisdom and moral authority have the task of presenting to the cardinals two well-prepared meditations on the problems facing the Church at the time and on the need for careful discernment in choosing the new Pope.

The term “Conclave” comes from two Latin words: cum (with) and clavis (key). In Church terminology, it designates both the secluded place where the papal election is held, and the body of Cardinals convened there to elect the new Pope.

Formally established in 1274 by Pope Gregory X

The upcoming Conclave starting on  May 7 to elect  the 267th Pope will be the 76th in the form we know today, which was established by Pope Gregory X in 1274, and the 26th held under the gaze of Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.

Over the centuries, various reforms gradually shaped the procedure for the election of the Pope. The first significant changes were introduced by Pope Nicholas II in 1059 with the Bull In nomine Domini, which specified that only cardinals could elect the Roman Pontiff.

Before that, the Successor of Peter was chosen with the participation of the ecclesial community: clergy assessed candidates proposed by the faithful, and the bishops chose the Pope. External influences and interferences from political powers, of course, played a major role in the election, often hindering the electoral process.

In 1179 Pope Alexander III promulgated  the Constitution Licet de vitanda introducing the requirement of a two-thirds majority — a key element that remains today.

Preparations of the loggia ahead of the Conclave

The 1268-1271 election in Viterbo, the longest in Church history

Then came the institution of the Conclave. This setting was formalized in 1274 by Pope Gregory X in the Constitution Ubi periculum which established that in future elections, cardinals should be locked away in seclusion "cum clave," from both inside and outside, so they could focus on their task of electing the next head of the Catholic Church “without any political or personal interference.”

This followed his own election in the city of Viterbo in 1271 which lasted nearly three years (1268-1271), due to external interference, and  is known to be the longest in history. The story has it that 1268, 18 cardinals gathered in the papal palace of Viterbo to elect the new Pope but couln't  decide.  Out of frustration the people of Viterbo decided to locked them in the palace, and walled up the doors. Eventually, Teobaldo Visconti, then Archdeacon of Liege, who was not a cardinal, nor even a priest, was elected as  Pope Gregory X.

The first Conclave in in 1276

Following Ubi periculum, the first official Conclave was held in Arezzo, Tuscany,  in 1276 with the election of Innocent V. In 1621, Pope Gregory XV introduced the requirement for secret and written ballots. In 1904, Pius X abolished any claimed right of exclusion and enforced secrecy about all that happens in the Conclave—even after iits conclusion. 

Changes from the 20th century to today

After World War II, in 1945, Pope Pius XII issued the Apostolic Constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis, introducing new rules. From the moment the Holy See is vacant, all cardinals—including the Secretary of State and Congregation Prefects—cease their duties, except for the Camerlengo, the Penitentiary, and the Vicar of Rome. Later, in the Motu proprio Ingravescentem Aetatem, Pope St. Paul VI decreed that only Cardinals under 80 years old could vote.

Not all Conclaves have been held in the Sistine Chapel

The first Conclave to be held at the Sistine Chapel was in 1492. Although every Conclave has been held at the Sistine Chapel since 1878, over the centuries elections had taken place in various locations before a fixed setting was decided upon. Most were still held within Rome, but 15 have previously taken place outside the Eternal City.

Some Conclaves have even been conducted outside of Italy. The Conclave of 1314-16 was held in France, and a century later, the Conclave of 1415-17 was held in Germany.

In his Apostolic Constitution "Universi Dominici Gregis" , Pope St. John Paul II’s confirmed the most famous chapel in the world, called the “Via Pulchritudinis” (Way of Beauty) as the official location for the election of the new Pope. 

The duration of Conclaves varies. As mentioned above, the longest  election in history was that of Gregory the X, which took two years and two months. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the one in 1503 which lasted only a few hours and led to the election of Pope Julius II.

The duration of the Conclave for late Pope Francis was relatively short: he was elected on March 13, 2013 after just five rounds in under two days.

Normally the newly elected Pope appears on the balcony to greet the crowd in St. Peter’s Square within an hour from the smoke billowing from the chimney over the Sistine Chapel.

Whilst every Pope over the last few centuries has been a cardinal, this is not a requirement. This is extremely common however, and the last Pope to be appointed that was not previously a cardinal was Urban VI in 1378.