Cardinals have chosen May 7 as the date to start the conclave and elect a new leader for 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, the Vatican announced.
The date for the papal election was decided on Monday after cardinals held the first daily congregation since Pope Francis’ funeral.
Only cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to vote in a papal election. There are currently 135 cardinals eligible to participate in the upcoming election. However, at least one cardinal has revealed he will not be in attendance.
Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, who previously served as Archbishop of Valencia between 2014 to 2022, has said he is unable to travel to the Vatican for health reasons.
It not yet clear exactly how many cardinals will be present when conclave gets underway on May 7. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Monday that so far more than 180 cardinals have arrived in Rome and took part in the meeting in the morning, of which just over 100 were cardinal electors.
Bruni said the cardinals discussed questions relating to the future of the church and the challenges it faces in the world today.
He added that Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, and Cardinal Dominique Mamberti had been elected to help Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Dublin-born cleric who became a naturalized American citizen who holds the position of “camerlengo” (or chamberlain). Farrell is tasked with “overseeing and administering the temporal goods and rights of the Apostolic See” following the death or resignation of a pope.
The congregations will continue daily, starting at 9 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) except for on May 1 and May 4.
The cardinal electors will vote for the next Bishop of Rome in a highly secretive ballot held in the Sistine Chapel, which was closed to the public on Monday in preparation for the balloting, according to the Vatican Museum website.
The last two conclaves, held in 2005 to elect Pope Benedict XVI and in 2013 to elect Pope Francis lasted two days.
