Conclave to elect a new pope will start on May 7 as cardinals get to
know one another
[April 29, 2025]
By NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic cardinals on Monday set May 7 as the start
date for the conclave to elect Pope Francis' successor, delaying the
secret voting for two days so they can get to know one another better
and find consensus on a candidate before they are sequestered in the
Sistine Chapel.
The cardinals set the date after arriving for the first day of informal
meetings following Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday. In a chaotic scene,
journalists shouted questions about the mood inside and whether there
was unity. A reporter for a satirical Italian television program asked
whether an Italian cardinal who has been convicted by the Vatican
criminal court on finance-related charges would be allowed to vote.
The conclave could have opened as early as May 5, but the cardinals gave
themselves extra time to speak in more informal sessions that include
cardinals over age 80, who will not be allowed into the Sistine Chapel
once the conclave begins. They will next meet on Tuesday morning,
“There is the hope of unity,” said Argentine Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi,
the 66-year-old archbishop of Cordoba who Francis made a cardinal in
2023.
Many cardinals cited the desire to continue Francis’ pastoral focus on
people who are marginalized and against war. But conservatives may be
more focused on forging unity and refocusing the church back on core
doctrines emphasized by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, rather
than continuing Francis' social justice focus and outreach to women and
gays.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, in a homily in St. Peter's Basilica on the
third day of official mourning for Francis' death, urged fellow
cardinals to continue the Argentine pope's reforms and avoid “power
alliances” and “retaliation” as they choose his successor.
British Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the 79-year-old archbishop of
Westminster, was adamant that the church must strive for unity, and he
downplayed divisions.
“The role of the pope is to essentially hold us together and that’s the
grace we’ve been given from God,” Nichols said.
Venezuelan Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo expressed confidence
that once the conclave begins, a decision would be quick, "between two
and three days.”
Cardinal electors
The College of Cardinals that will elect a new pope includes members
from far-flung corners of the globe whom Francis named over his 12-year
papacy to bring in new points of view — often at the expense of
traditional centers of Catholicism.
Many have spent little or no time in Rome getting to know colleagues,
injecting some uncertainty into a process that requires two-thirds of
the voting-age cardinals to coalesce behind a single candidate.
Nichols acknowledged that the 135 cardinal electors — 108 of whom were
appointed by Francis — don’t know each other very well. The last 20 were
appointed in early December.
“We’ve got all week,” Nichols said as he arrived.
Only cardinals under 80 are eligible to vote, and it is not clear how
many of the 135 will participate. A Spanish cardinal has said he won’t
come to Rome for health reasons.
Controversy
A big uncertainty is whether Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once one of the
most powerful cardinals in the Vatican, will be allowed in the Sistine
Chapel. Francis in 2020 forced Becciu to resign as head of the Vatican’s
saint-making office and renounce his rights as a cardinal because of
allegations of embezzlement and financial fraud. Becciu denied any
wrongdoing but was put on trial in the Vatican criminal court and
convicted of finance-related charges in December, 2023.
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St Peter's Basilica is seen in the background as a cardinal arrives
for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Monday, April
28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
He is appealing the conviction and has participated in the
pre-conclave meetings, but there is a lingering question about
whether he is entitled to vote. The Vatican’s official statistics
list him as a “non-elector.” When he was ousted in 2020, Becciu told
a hastily arranged press conference that he wouldn't be voting in
any future conclave, but recently he has insisted he is entitled to
vote, and canon lawyers have been poring over the Vatican document
regulating the conclave to determine if he’s right.
The case was discussed Monday by cardinals but there was “no
resolution,” the Vatican said.
Papal candidates
While Francis stacked the ranks with his cardinals, it is not
necessarily the case that all of them will want to see the church
continue in his image.
On Monday, any glimpse of a red cap appearing along St. Peter’s
Square’s stately colonnade set journalists running with cameras and
voice recorders aloft to capture the mood inside.
Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, considered a contender to be the next
pope, navigated the scrum of journalists with humor, joking that he
was “holding his breath” as the microphones and cameras surrounded
him all the way to the Vatican gate.
African voices
Nigerian Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, the emeritus archbishop
of Abuja, was asked if the African cardinals were coalescing around
a particular candidate.
African bishops had made a remarkably united stand last year against
Francis’ outreach to LGBTQ+ people, refusing to implement his
declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples.
Given such a stand, there is some speculation that the 18 African
cardinal electors could help block a progressive candidate from
emerging.
“We have not come here for a political rally. We have come to get a
pope out,” said Onaiyekan, who at 81 is too old to vote but can have
a role in influencing how younger electors might.
Asian and Latin American voices
Indian Cardinal Anthony Poola, the 61-year-old archbishop of
Hyderabad, said he had experienced a sense of unity among his fellow
cardinals but allowed that “anything could happen.” As a relatively
young cardinal, Poola is one of four Indian electors who will
participate in the conclave, three of whom, including Poola, were
named by Francis.
“Anyone who is coming up must be the successor of St. Peter, and we
all hope that he will be a good pope,” he said.
Rossi, the Argentine cardinal, said he hoped that Francis' message
of “mercy, closeness, charity, tenderness and faith," would
accompany them in finding a successor.
But he acknowledged the job was daunting. Asked how he felt about
participating in his first conclave, he responded with a laugh:
"Afraid."
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