By CATHOLIC cardinals will convene on 7 May to begin voting for a new pope, the Vatican announced on Monday, just a week after the death of Pope Francis.
The “Princes of the Church” under the age of 80 will gather in the Sistine Chapel — beneath Michelangelo’s iconic frescoes — to choose the next spiritual leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
The date was set during a meeting of cardinals early on Monday, two days after Francis’s funeral. The Argentine pontiff died on 21 April at the age of 88.
While all 252 cardinals were summoned to Rome, only 135 are eligible to vote. They come from across the globe, and many are unfamiliar with one another. However, after four general congregations held last week, relationships are beginning to build.
“There is a beautiful, fraternal atmosphere,” said Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of Italy’s bishops’ conference. “Of course, there may be difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous, and not everyone knows each other.”
The Vatican on Monday closed the Sistine Chapel to begin preparations for the conclave.
So far, little has emerged about potential frontrunners. “If Francis was the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too — it is unpredictable,” Spanish Cardinal José Cobo told El País on Sunday.
Francis was laid to rest on Saturday in a ceremony attended by 400,000 mourners, including world leaders, royalty, and ordinary pilgrims. On Sunday, around 70,000 visited his marble tomb at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore — he had asked to be buried outside the Vatican walls.
In early speculation, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin — Francis’s former Secretary of State — is considered a favourite, closely followed by Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, according to British bookmakers. Other names mentioned include Matteo Zuppi, Robert Sarah, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Despite Francis’s popularity, particularly for championing a more inclusive and compassionate Church, his reforms stirred discontent among conservative factions, notably in the United States and Africa.
“The cardinals will be looking for someone who can forge greater unity,” said Roberto Regoli, a Church historian at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. “Given the deep polarisation within Catholicism, it may not be a very quick conclave.”
Still, Bassetti predicted the process “will not be long.”
Roughly 80% of the cardinal-electors were appointed by Francis — although that does not guarantee they will choose someone in his mould. Most are relatively young, and many will be participating in their first conclave.
Voting is secret and follows rigid ceremonial traditions, with four ballots held daily — two in the morning and two in the afternoon — until a candidate achieves a two-thirds majority.
Europeans now make up less than half of the electors, highlighting the Church’s increasingly global character.
“The next pope must have a universal heart, embracing all continents,” said Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga of the Central African Republic. “We need a courageous leader who can hold the helm steady through storms.”
Patrizia Spotti, a 68-year-old Italian pilgrim in Rome, said she hopes for another pope like Francis.
“Churches are empty. The Church itself has made mistakes, especially with the scandals involving children,” she said. “We need a pope who brings back hope.”
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