On May 7, the doors of the Sistine Chapel will be closed to start the largest and diverse conclave in the history of the Catholic Church.
A total of 133 voters, from 71 countries, will choose the 267th successor of San Pedro.
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With his last Consistory of December 2024, Pope Francis broke all the records by leaving a Cardinal College that exceeds 13 members to the 120 voters established by Pope John Paul II.
Who votes and how many are?
The Cardenalicio College currently has 254 members, but only 135 have the right to vote for being less than 80 years old.
However, the director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni, announced that two voters have resigned to participate in the conclave for health reasons: the Spanish Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop Emeritus of Valencia, and the Keniano John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi.
Therefore, the 2025 conclave will have, if there are no lower, 133 voters.
The rules establish that to choose potatoes a two -thirds majority of the attendees are required, in this case: 89 votes.
The most global conclave
The 135 voters this time represent 71 countries on the five continents:
For the first time, 12 countries will be represented in a conclave: Haiti, Cabo Verde, South Sudan, Sweden, Luxembourg, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Serbia, Malaysia, Singapore, Eastern Timor and the Central African Republic.
This geographical amplitude exceeds that of all the previous conclaves. In 2013, Cardinals from 48 countries participated.
Young and experienced
The youngest cardinal is Mykola Bychok, born in Ukraine and Archbishop in Australia, is only 45 years old and is the only voter under 50.
The longest cardinal is the Spanish Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop Emeritus in Madrid, is 79 years old and is about to meet the 80s, the limit to vote in the conclave.
The average age of the voters is 70 years.
The most numerous generation is 1947 with 13 cardinals.
Only three voters do not have contemporaries: Baldassare Reina (1970), Frank Leo (1971) and Rolandas Makrickas (1972).
Who appointed them?
108 Cardinals, that is, 80% of the total number of voters were created by Pope Francis, which shows his strong influence on the profile of the current school.
22 were appointed by Benedict XVI and only 5 by San Juan Paul II.
Religious orders present
Among the voters are 33 cardinals from 18 different religious families, which brings a spiritual and charismatic wealth to the conclave.
The Salesians are the most represented (5), followed by lower Franciscans (4), Jesuits (4), Franciscans Conventual (3) and Dominicans (2).
They also participate Lazaristas, redeeming, verbs, Augustinians, Capuchinos, Decalzos Carmelitas, Cistercians, Spiritans, Camstrobrinians and Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the Consolata.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.