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Conclave to Elect the Next Pope Will Begin May 7 – Twitchy

April 28, 2025

Now that the Requiem Mass for Pope Francis is over, and he’s been buried at St. Mary Major outside the Vatican, all eyes will return to Rome for the Conclave: the secretive, tradition-laden process by which the College of Cardinals will pick the next Pope.

The Conclave will begin on May 7, according to the Holy See:

The conclave to elect a new Pope will begin on May 7 according to the Holy See Press Office.

The Cardinals present in Rome made the decision on Monday at their fifth General Congregation.

The conclave will take place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, which remain closed to… pic.twitter.com/3eYiPof4uu

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 28, 2025

Any baptized Catholic male can, technically, be named Pope. But the successor to the Chair of St. Peter is usually selected from the Cardinals.

CBS News provided a list of the Cardinals who could become pope:

Cardinal Peter Erdo, a 72-year-old canon lawyer, is the highest ranking Catholic leader in a country that is 80% Christian. He is known for his support of the pope’s outreach to Orthodox Christians.

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Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, grew global attention for leading African bishops in unanimous rejection of ‘Fiducia Supplicans,’ a declaration the Vatican issued in 2023 that included guidelines on the blessings of people in same-sex relationships.

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Cardinal Mario Grech, 68, is a canon lawyer who has major influence on how synods in the church are run. Supporters have praised him for leading the charge in implementing a more consultative and inclusive approach to church governance.

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Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, is second-in-command at the Vatican and a career diplomat who has consistently risen above any turbulence marking the pontificate.

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Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60, is a pastoral candidate who has spoken out amid the Israel-Hamas war and visited Gaza during the conflict.

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Cardinal Luis Tagle, 67, and pro-prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is known as the ‘Asian Francis’ for his missionary spirit as well as his emphasis on caring for the poor and welcoming of LGBTQ and divorced and remarried Catholics.

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Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, 69, is the president of the Italian bishops conference. He is known as a ‘street priest’ and missionary and wants a church that listens to the faithful and is willing to modernize. Zuppi is inclusive of same-sex couples, as well as people of different religions.

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Cardinal Anders Arborelius, 75, was raised Lutheran and converted to Catholicism at the age of 20. He is the first ever cardinal from Scandinavia.

He is also a traditionalist on the church’s teaching on sexual ethics and gender, and has a strong concern for the environment.

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Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec, Canada, is 67 years old. Earlier in his career he spent years as a missionary and seminary professor in Colombia.