In 2026, the College of Cardinals is set to undergo a renewal of its voting members.
In total, seven cardinals - and not insignificant ones - will reach the age limit of 80 during the calendar year, thus losing their right to vote in the event of a future conclave.
This numerical erosion may pave the way for the creation of new "princes of the Church."
On January 1, 2026, Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi, celebrated his 80th birthday and lost his voting rights.
Created a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, his career has been marked by administrative uncertainty: his date of birth, initially set at December 31, 1944, was officially corrected to January 1, 1946.
Due to illness, he was unable to participate in the last conclave that elected Leo XIV.
On January 5 Vatican diplomacy loses a key elector: Cardinal Mario Zenari. Apostolic Nuncio to Syria since 2008 and created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, the high prelate holds a strong symbolic position.
On January 30, another seasoned diplomat, the Frenchman Christophe Pierre, will join the ranks of non-electors.
Currently the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, after having served in Haiti, Uganda, and Mexico, he was elevated to the cardinalate by the late Argentinian pontiff in September 2023.
April 2026 will see two major figures leave the electoral body.
First, Fernando Filoni (April 15), former Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and current Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher. He is one of the few cardinals to have participated in both the 2013 and 2025 conclaves.
Then comes Juan José Omella (April 21): Archbishop of Barcelona and former president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference was a pillar of the restricted council of cardinals (C9) under the previous pontificate, a body that ceased to exist with the election of Leo XIV.
In May, Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, a leading figure in pro-migrant pastoral care, will also reach the age limit.
The Archbishop Emeritus of Agrigento, he was the one who welcomed Pope Francis to Lampedusa in 2013, marking the beginning of a pontificate more focused on the peripheries and migrants than on the defense of the faith.
Finally, the cycle will conclude on July 18 with the Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny. Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, he embodies the progressive wing of the Curia and is one of the "guardians of the revolution" of the previous pontificate.
The day after Cardinal Czerny's 80th birthday—and barring death or unforeseen events—the number of cardinal electors will fall to 117.
This figure is below the theoretical ceiling of 120 set by Paul VI, a limit that Pope Francis had regularly exceeded, but which Leo XIV seems to want to respect with greater canonical rigor.
Since the election of the new pope in May 2025, the College of Cardinals has already lost many influential electors, including Cardinals Robert Sarah, Vincent Nichols, Timothy Radcliffe, and Carlos Osoro Sierra.
Cardinal Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo, Archbishop Emeritus of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, joined them on December 31