Conclave To Elect New Pope Begins May 7

The Catholic Church will hold a conclave starting May 7 to elect a new pope, following the death of Pope Francis. Cardinals under the age of 80 will convene in the Sistine Chapel to choose the next spiritual leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

The date for the conclave was determined during a cardinals’ meeting on Monday, just two days after Pope Francis’s funeral.

All 252 cardinals were summoned to Rome after the 88-year-old pope’s passing, though only 135 are eligible to cast a vote in the conclave.

The cardinals have come from around the globe, and many are unfamiliar with each other. However, four “general congregations” were held last week to help them begin building connections.

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former leader of the Italian bishops’ conference, remarked that there was a “beautiful, fraternal atmosphere.”

“Of course, there may be some difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous and not everyone knows each other,” he shared with Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The Vatican has already closed the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave will be conducted beneath Michelangelo’s iconic frescoes, to commence preparations.

At this stage, there are few clear indicators of whom the cardinals may select as the next pontiff.

“I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable,” Spanish Cardinal Jose Cobo told El Pais in an interview published Sunday.

Pope Francis’s funeral and burial on Saturday drew an estimated 400,000 attendees to St. Peter’s Square, with royalty, world leaders, and thousands of pilgrims among the crowd.

On Sunday, around 70,000 mourners visited his marble tomb at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome. The “pope of the poor” had requested to be laid to rest outside the Vatican walls.

– Bookmakers’ Odds –

Amid ongoing global conflicts and diplomatic tensions, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who served as Secretary of State under Pope Francis, is considered a frontrunner for the papacy.

British bookmaker William Hill currently lists Cardinal Pietro Parolin as the favorite, followed by Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, and Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson.

Other names appearing in the odds include Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna; Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah; and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

While Pope Francis earned widespread admiration for his efforts to make the Church more compassionate, his reforms also drew criticism from the Church’s conservative factions, especially in the United States and Africa.

Roberto Regoli, a professor of Church history and culture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP that the cardinals will be searching for a figure who can promote unity within the Church.

“We are in a period in which Catholicism is experiencing various polarisations, so I don’t imagine it will be a very, very quick conclave,” he explained.

Bassetti, who is now too old to participate in the voting, nonetheless predicted that it “will not be long.”

About 80% of the cardinal electors were appointed by Pope Francis himself. However, this does not guarantee that his successor will follow his particular style, as many of the voting cardinals are younger and attending their first conclave.

– ‘We Need a Courageous Leader’ –

The voting process is highly confidential and follows strict traditions and ceremonial procedures.

It could last several days or even longer, with four votes conducted daily—two in the morning and two in the afternoon—until a candidate secures a two-thirds majority.

Less than half of the eligible voters are European.

“The future pope must have a universal heart, love all the continents. We must not look at colour, at origin, but at what is proposed,” Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga from the Central African Republic told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.

“We need a courageous leader, a bold one, capable of speaking forcefully, of holding the helm of the Church steady even in storms… offering stability in an era of great uncertainty.”

Patrizia Spotti, a 68-year-old Italian who traveled to Rome for the 2026 Jubilee Holy Year, shared with AFP her hope that the next pope will resemble Pope Francis.

She reflected that it is a challenging time for Catholicism.

“Churches are empty. And the Church itself has made mistakes, all the scandals with the children,” she said, referencing the widespread revelations of clerical sexual abuse.