The seven Spanish cardinals who can participate in the conclave

Of the seven Spanish cardinals who can participate in the conclave that will choose the successor of St. Peter after the death of Pope Francis, four belong to the Spanish Episcopal Conference and three exercise the ministry outside their borders.

Mons. Cañizares was born in Utiel (Valencia), on October 15, 1945. He was a bishop of Ávila, archbishop of Granada and Toledo. Created Cardinal by Benedict XVI, he exercised as a prefect of the congregation for the divine cult and discipline of the sacraments, until he returned to Spain as archbishop of Valencia until 2022.

Archbishop Emeritus of Madrid, Mons. Carlos Osoro Sierra, was born in Castañeda (Cantabria) on May 16, 1945. He agreed to the Purple Birreta on November 19, 2016, from Pope Francis. In 1997 he was appointed Bishop of Orense. Benedict XVI entrusted him with the Archdiocese of Valencia (2009). The recently deceased pontiff transferred him to the Archdiocese of Madrid in 2014 until June 2023.

He was succeeded by Mons. José Cobo Cano, born in Sabiote (Jaén) on September 20, 1965 and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Madrid in 2017, taking possession in February 2018. Just a few hours after taking possession as Archbishop of Madrid, Pope Francis announced that Mons. Cobo would be created Cardinal in the town hall held in September 2023.

He is a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, of the Dicasteria for the laity, the family and the life and of the Dicasterio for the Eastern Churches. The Ordinariato is also responsible for the Eastern Catholics residing in Spain.

Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, ​​was born in Cretas (Teruel) in 1946. Ordered Auxiliary Bishop of Zaragoza in 1996, took possession of the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón in 1999. Between 2001 and 2003 he exercised as apostolic administrator of the dioceses of Huesca and Jaca. A year later, he was transferred to the Diocese of Calahorra and the Calzada-Logroño, until 2015, when he took possession of the Archdiocese of Barcelona.

In June 2017, Cardinal was created by Pope Francis and, since March 2023, he is part of the Cardinal Council of the late Pontiff. He has been president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference between March 2020 and March 2024.

Spanish cardinals who are not part of the EEC

Outside the Spanish Episcopal Conference, they can also participate in the conclave after the death of Pope Francis the Archbishop of Rabat, the Bishop of Ajaccio (Corsica, France) and the former rerector of the Salesians.

Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB, was born in Vélez-Rubio (Almería) in 1952. Ordered priest in Barcelona in 1979, he was destined for Paraguay, where he remained for 18 years and acquired the nationality of the American country. He took possession of the Archbishopric of Rabat (Morocco) in 2018.

In October 2019, Cardenal was created. Three months later he joined the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and since 2022 he is a member of the Dicasterio for the divine cult and discipline of the sacraments.

Mons. Francisco Javier Bustillo Ripoda was born in Pamplona in 1968. He joined the Franciscans Conventuals of Padua (Italy) at age 17. He was ordained a priest in 1994. Subsequently, he was linked to the Diocese of Tarbes-Lourdes (France). In 2021 he assumed the government of the Diocese of Ajaccio and two years later he received the Cardinal Birreta. He is a member of the Clergy Dicastery.

The Pro-Prefect of Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, was born in Gozón-Luanco (Asturias) in 1960. In 1984 he conducted his solemn profession as Salesian and three years later he was ordered presbyter.

In 2009 he served as Salesian Provincial of the South Inspectorate, based in Buenos Aires, in which he collaborated with the then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

In 2013 he was appointed provincial Salesian in southern Spain, but did not assume the position when he was elected as the Greater Rector of the Salesian Congregation.

In September 2023 he was the first superior of a religious congregation in being created Cardinal. Mons. Fernández Artime asked Pope Francis to govern the Salesians until August 2024.

The possibility of participating in the conclave does not imply the obligation to attend, since there may be health or other conditions that do not make it possible. From Spain, the participation of Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera is very unlikely.