133 cardinals to elect successor of Pope Francis

Following the funeral rites of Pope Francis scheduled for Saturday, April 26, cardinals under the age of 80 from around the world will gather at the Vatican in the following days to participate in the conclave to elect the next pope.

Currently, there are 252 cardinals in the Catholic Church. However, only 135 of them are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in the upcoming papal election, according to Church regulations. However, two of them—Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, 79, and Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic, 79—would not attend the forthcoming conclave, citing health reasons.

The remaining 117 cardinals are aged 80 and above and are ineligible to vote.

Among the six Indian cardinals, only four are eligible to vote in the conclave. These include:

• Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman

• Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Kerala

• Cardinal Anthony Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad

• Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, currently serving at the Vatican

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai turned 80 on December 24, 2024, and Cardinal George Alencherry reached the age of 80 on April 19, just three days before Pope Francis’ passing, making both ineligible to vote.

Geographically, the distribution of the 252 living cardinals is as follows:

• Europe: 114

• Asia: 37

• South America: 32

• Africa: 29

• North America: 28

• Central America: 8

• Oceania: 4

The percentage of voting-eligible cardinals (under 80) by continent is

• Europe: 46.5%

• Asia: 62.2%

• South America: 53.1%

• Africa: 62.1%

• North America: 57.1%

• Central America: 50%

• Oceania: 100%

Of the 148 cardinals created by Pope Francis who are still alive, 108 are under 80. Among the 62 surviving cardinals appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, 22 are voting-eligible.

Of the 41 cardinals elevated by Saint Pope John Paul II who are still alive, only five are under the age of 80. These five are

• Vinko Cardinal Puljić, Archbishop Emeritus of Vrhbonsa (Sarajevo), Bosnia and Herzegovina.

• Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson, Chancellor of the Roman Curia

• Péter Cardinal Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary

• Josip Cardinal Bozanić, Archbishop Emeritus of Zagreb, Croatia

• Philippe Xavier Christian Ignace Marie Cardinal Barbarin, Archbishop Emeritus of Lyon, France

These five cardinals are notable for having participated in both the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, and they are also eligible to vote in the upcoming conclave.

In total, the next papal election will include 133 cardinal electors: 108 appointed by Pope Francis, 22 by Pope Benedict XVI, and 5 by Saint John Paul II.