Conclave to elect new pope to convene on May 7

The date was set at the General Congregation (meeting) of the College of Cardinals.

The body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church comprises 252 members, but only 135 are eligible to vote for the next pope. Only those under the age of 80 may take part in the secret ballot, and each of them can be considered a potential candidate to succeed the late pope. The conclave will take place in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, with four votes held each day. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope. The election is traditionally announced by white smoke from a chimney, clearly visible in St. Peter’s Square.

Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni said that the conclave will be preceded by a votive Mass held in the morning of May 7. In the afternoon, the Cardinal electors will gather in the Sistine Chapel. There is no guarantee that the voting will happen on the first day of the conclave, as everything depends on the timing of the oath-taking by the Cardinal electors, the press office of the Holy See specified.

As the Vatican prepares to host the conclave, the Sistine Chapel, known for its frescoes by Michelangelo and included in the itinerary of the Vatican Museums, is now closed to the public.

Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church who had been on the throne of St. Peter since 2013, was buried on April 26.

As it was reported, Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.