The group of cardinals preparing to enter the conclave is slightly
older – by four months – than the group that elected 78-year-old
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2005. Only cardinals under the age of 80 when the papacy becomes vacant can enter the conclave in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope.
The cardinal-electors do not have to choose one of their own, but they usually do.
Almost 43 percent of the cardinal-electors were created cardinals by Blessed John Paul and participated in the election of Pope Benedict almost eight years ago. The remaining 57 pc of the voters were named by Benedict.
In the aftermath of the ‘VatiLeaks’ scandal and amid loud cries for a reform of the Roman Curia, 35pc of the cardinal-electors either work in the curia or have retired from posts at the Vatican. Most of the cardinal-electors are heads of archdioceses around the world.
The 115 come from 48 countries fairly close to the 53 countries represented in the 2005 conclave.
The European dominance in the College of Cardinals is slightly stronger than it was eight years ago.
Today, 52pc of the cardinal-electors are European; in the last conclave, 49.5pc were European.
There are 19 Latin American cardinal-electors, about 16pc of the total; 14 from the US and Canada, or about 12pc; and 11 each from Africa and Asia, representing about 9pc for each continent. Australia and the South Pacific – ‘Oceania’ in Vatican parlance - have only one elector, Australian Cardinal George Pell of Sydney.
In the country-by-country breakdown, Italy is significantly stronger than it was eight years ago.
Today the country has 28 voting-age cardinals, eight more than in 2005 and two more than in 1978.
Italians now represent almost 24pc of the conclave voters, compared to 23pc in 1978; in the conclaves of 1963 and 1958, the Italians made up more than 30pc of the total number of voters.
The United States has 11 voters, as it did eight years ago; Germany has six; Spain, Brazil and India each have five. France and Poland each have four electors and Mexico and Canada each have three.
Among the voting-age cardinals, there are 19 members of religious orders, or 16pc of the total, and they include four Salesians, three Franciscans and two Jesuits.
PANEL: How long will it take?
The last few Popes have been elected and installed within a fairly short period of time after the deaths of their predecessors.
- Pope John XXIII died June 3, 1963, and his funeral was held on June 6. The conclave to choose his successor began June 19 and lasted two days. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, who took the name Paul VI, was elected on June 21. He was installed June 30.
- Pope Paul VI died August 6, 1978, and his funeral was held on August 12. The conclave to choose his successor began on August 25. A day later, August 26, the cardinals elected Cardinal Albino Luciano, who chose the name John Paul I. He was installed on September 3.
- Pope John Paul I died less than a month later, on September 28, 1978, and his funeral was held on October 4. The conclave to choose his successor began on October 15 and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected on the second day of voting, October 16. Pope John Paul II was installed on October 22.
- Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, and his funeral was celebrated on April 8. Under the leadership of its dean, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the College of Cardinals entered into the conclave on April 18 and elected the dean as Pope the next day. He took the name Pope Benedict XVI and inaugurated his pontificate April 24.
- Pope Benedict XVI announced on February 11 that he was resigning effective on February 28.