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Cardinals will convene on May 7th to elect the new leader of the Catholic Church following Pope Francis's funeral.
The Vatican has announced that Roman Catholic cardinals will gather in a secret conclave starting May 7 to elect the next leader of the global Church. This decision was made during a closed-door meeting of cardinals, the first since the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.
A total of 135 cardinals under the age of 80 from around the world are eligible to participate in the conclave. They will decide who will succeed Pope Francis as the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.
The 16th-century Sistine Chapel, where the conclave will take place, was closed to tourists on Monday to allow for preparations. The past two conclaves, held in 2005 and 2013, lasted just two days.
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However, Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius expects this conclave to take longer. Many of the cardinals appointed by Pope Francis have never met each other before, as Francis prioritized appointing cardinals from diverse geographical locations.
German Cardinal Walter Kasper believes that the outpouring of mourners for Pope Francis indicates that Catholics want the next pope to continue his reforming style of papacy. However, a bloc of conservative cardinals may push for a more traditional approach, restricting Francis' vision of a more inclusive Church.
The conclave marks the beginning of a new era for the Catholic Church. The cardinals will have slightly more time for general discussions ahead of the ballot, as the conclave starts a day later than the earliest possible date.
