The Vatican announced on Monday that Catholic cardinals will begin voting for a new pope on May 7, following the death of Pope Francis last week.
Cardinals under the age of 80, known as the “Princes of the Church,” will gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. The decision was made during a meeting of cardinals earlier on Monday, two days after Pope Francis’s funeral. The late pontiff died on April 21 at the age of 88.
All 252 cardinals were summoned to Rome after the Argentine pope’s death; however, only 135 are eligible to participate in the conclave. The cardinals, drawn from across the globe, held four general congregations last week to become better acquainted.
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of the Italian bishops’ conference, described the meetings as fostering a “beautiful, fraternal atmosphere” but acknowledged potential challenges due to the large number of voters and the unfamiliarity among them.
The Vatican also announced the closure of the Sistine Chapel on Monday to begin preparations for the conclave, which will take place beneath Michelangelo’s famed 16th-century frescoes.
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