Conclave to Elect New Pope to Begin on May 7, Announces Holy See

Vatican City – 28 April 2025

The Holy See Press Office has announced that the Conclave to elect the successor of His Holiness Pope Francis will commence on 7 May 2025. The decision was reached during the fifth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals, convened this Monday morning inside Vatican City.

As the bells of St. Peter’s continue to toll in mourning, the Church now turns toward hope: to the sacred task of discerning, through human hands and hearts, the 267th Bishop of Rome who will shepherd 1.4 billion Catholics across the world.

In the quiet solemnity of the Sistine Chapel, beneath the frescoed splendour of Michelangelo’s Last Judgement, the cardinal electors will gather—those princes of the Church who are yet first and foremost servants—to seek not their will, but the will of God.

The Road to the Conclave: Prayerful Preparation

Since the funeral of Pope Francis on 26 April, the College of Cardinals has met daily in General Congregations—private sessions closed to the public—to discuss the future of the Church, the challenges it faces, and the qualities needed in the new Pontiff.

According to the Vatican Press Office, more than 180 cardinals have already arrived in Rome. Of these, just over 100 are eligible electors, meaning they are under the canonical voting age of 80 years. In total, 135 cardinal electors were eligible at the time of Pope Francis’ death, though not all will participate: Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, former Archbishop of Valencia, has excused himself from the conclave due to health reasons. Similarly, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, embroiled in past controversy, has voluntarily withdrawn from the conclave.

It is not yet certain precisely how many electors will enter the Sistine Chapel on May 7, but preparations are well underway. The chapel, rich with the sacred art of the Renaissance, has been closed to visitors. Technological countermeasures have been installed to preserve the profound secrecy demanded by the process.

Before entering the conclave, the cardinal electors will participate in the Mass Pro Eligendo Papa—the Mass for the Election of a Pope—calling upon the Holy Spirit for wisdom and unity. Then, under the proclamation “Extra Omnes” (“All outside, leave”), the doors will be sealed, and the world will be left to wait and pray.

During the sede vacante—the period when the Apostolic See is vacant—the temporal governance of the Church rests with the Camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, a Dublin-born cleric who became a naturalised American citizen. His task is not to govern spiritually, but to oversee the administration of the Vatican’s material goods and safeguard its legal rights until the new Pope is elected. To assist him in these delicate duties, the cardinals have elected three colleagues: Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, and Cardinal Dominique Mamberti. Together, they form a commission responsible for ensuring the smooth temporal functioning of the Apostolic See in these days of prayerful expectation. Their work, though often unseen, is vital—preserving the integrity of the Church’s operations while the world prays for its new shepherd.

Who May Elect: The College of Cardinals

Only cardinals under the age of 80 may vote. Out of the current electors, nearly four out of five were appointed by Pope Francis himself—a testament to his global vision and missionary emphasis during his twelve-year pontificate.

Indeed, this conclave will be one of the most diverse in the Church’s history. Many of the cardinals hail from countries that had never before been represented in the College—Mongolia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Mali, and others. The Global South, once a periphery, now finds greater voice within the heart of the Church.

This breadth of experience and perspective reflects the true catholicity—the universality—of the Body of Christ.

The Conclave Process: Rituals of Listening and Discernment

The process follows a strict rhythm rooted in ancient tradition, codified most recently in Universi Dominici Gregis by Pope St. John Paul II and amended slightly by Pope Benedict XVI.

Each day, two rounds of voting will be held, morning and evening. In each round:

• Every cardinal inscribes his chosen name on a ballot marked with the solemn Latin phrase Eligo in Summum Pontificem—”I elect as Supreme Pontiff…”
• Ballots are collected, counted, and scrutinised.
• If no candidate attains the required two-thirds majority, the ballots are burned with chemicals that produce black smoke—fumata nera—signalling to the waiting world that the choice is still unsettled.
• Once a candidate is elected with the requisite majority, white smoke—fumata bianca—will rise joyously over St. Peter’s Square.

Thereafter, the new Pope will don the white cassock, receive the Ring of the Fisherman, and step onto the Loggia of Blessings, offering his first Urbi et Orbi blessing—“to the City and to the World”—under the red drapery of the Apostolic Palace.

The Weight of Discernment: Not a Matter of Politics

Though the media often frames the conclave in political terms—liberal versus conservative, European versus non-European—the Church’s view is vastly different.

The cardinals are not electing a politician.
They are discerning a father:
— A man of profound prayer,
— A man with the heart of a shepherd,
— A man who will bind the Church’s wounds, confront the tides of history, and stand humbly yet fearlessly before God and the world.

This choice must be made not according to the preferences of the age, but according to the whisperings of the Spirit.

The world seeks efficiency; the Church seeks sanctity.

The world seeks charisma; the Church seeks communion.

It is for this reason that every conclave is bathed in prayer—not only by the cardinals but by the entire People of God.

The Holy Spirit Guides, But Men Must Listen

History offers both reassurance and sobering reminders.

Some popes have been elected swiftly—Pope Benedict XVI, within two days; Pope Francis, after five ballots. Others have seen the conclave stretch on for weeks, even months.

But in every case, the conclave becomes a mirror of the Church itself: fragile, fallible, yet entrusted to a grace greater than itself.

There is no infallibility in the election itself, only in the promises of Christ to His Church:
“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)

An Ending and a Beginning

The conclave marks both an ending and a beginning.

It closes the chapter of Pope Francis—a Pontiff who chose the margins, who carried the wounded upon his shoulders, who entrusted the Church ever more boldly to the care of the poor and the Spirit.

And it opens the next page, still unwritten, awaiting the hand of God.

Who will step onto the balcony?
Who will bear the Cross of Peter across the seas and deserts of the modern world?

We do not know.
But we do know this: that the Church, in her deepest moments of need, does not lose herself in confusion.
She falls to her knees.

The whole world is invited to do likewise in the coming days—praying not for a perfect man, but for a holy one.

Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. And You shall renew the face of the earth.