Conclave to elect a new pope will start on May 7 as cardinals get to know one another

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic cardinals on Monday set May 7 as the start date for the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor, delaying the secret voting for two days so they can get to know one another better and find consensus on a candidate before they are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel.

The cardinals set the date after arriving for the first day of informal meetings following Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday. In a chaotic scene, journalists shouted questions about the mood inside and whether there was unity. A reporter for a satirical Italian television program asked whether an Italian cardinal who has been convicted by the Vatican criminal court on finance-related charges would be allowed to vote.

The conclave could have opened as early as May 5 or 6, but the cardinals gave themselves extra time to speak in more informal sessions that include cardinals over age 80, who will not be allowed into the Sistine Chapel once the conclave begins.

“There is the hope of unity,” said Argentine Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, the 66-year-old archbishop of Cordoba who Francis made a cardinal in 2023.

Many cardinals cited the desire to continue Francis’ pastoral focus on people who are marginalized and against war. But conservatives may be more focused on forging unity and refocusing the church back to core doctrines emphasized by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, rather than continuing Francis’ social justice focus and outreach to women and gays.

British Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the 79-year-old archbishop of Westminster, was adamant that the church must strive for unity, and he downplayed divisions.

“The role of the pope is to essentially hold us together and that’s the grace we’ve been given from God,” Nichols said.

Venezuelan Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo expressed confidence that once the conclave begins, a decision would be quick, “between two and three days.”

Cardinal electors

The College of Cardinals that will elect a new pope includes members from far-flung corners of the globe whom Francis named over his 12-year papacy to bring in new points of view.

Many have spent little or no time in Rome getting to know colleagues, injecting some uncertainty into a process that requires two-thirds of the voting-age cardinals to coalesce behind a single candidate.

Nichols acknowledged that the 135 cardinal electors — 108 of whom were appointed by Francis — don’t know each other very well. The last 20 were appointed in early December.

“We’ve got all week,” Nichols said as he arrived.

Only cardinals under 80 are eligible to vote, and it is not clear how many of the 135 will participate. A Spanish cardinal has said he won’t come to Rome for health reasons.

A big uncertainty is whether Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once one of the most powerful cardinals in the Vatican, will be allowed in the Sistine Chapel. Francis in 2020 forced Becciu to resign as head of the Vatican’s saint-making office and renounce his rights as a cardinal because of allegations of embezzlement and financial fraud. Becciu denied any wrongdoing but was put on trial in the Vatican criminal court and convicted of finance-related charges in December, 2023.

He is appealing the conviction and has participated in the pre-conclave meetings, but there is a lingering question about whether he is entitled to vote. The Vatican’s official statistics list him as a “non-elector.” When he was ousted in 2020, Becciu told a hastily arranged press conference that he wouldn’t be voting in any future conclave, but recently he has insisted he is entitled to vote, and canon lawyers have been poring over the Vatican document regulating the conclave to determine if he’s right.

The case was discussed Monday by cardinals but there was “no resolution,” the Vatican said.

Papal candidates

While Francis stacked the ranks with his cardinals, it is not necessarily the case that all of them will want to see the church continue in his image.

On Monday, any glimpse of a red cap appearing along St. Peter’s Square’s stately colonnade set journalists running with cameras and voice recorders aloft to capture the mood inside.

Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, considered a contender to be the next pope, navigated the scrum of journalists with humor, joking that he was “holding his breath” as the microphones and cameras surrounded him all the way to the Vatican gate.

African voices

Nigerian Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, the emeritus archbishop of Abuja, was asked if the African cardinals were coalescing around a particular candidate.

African bishops had made a remarkably united stand last year against Francis’ outreach to LGBTQ+ people, refusing to implement his declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples. Given such a stand, there is some speculation that the 18 African cardinal electors could help block a progressive candidate from emerging.

“We have not come here for a political rally. We have come to get a pope out,” said Onaiyekan, who at 81 is too old to vote but can have a role in influencing how younger electors might.

Asian and Latin American voices

Indian Cardinal Anthony Poola, the 61-year-old archbishop of Hyderabad, said he had experienced a sense of unity among his fellow cardinals but allowed that “anything could happen.” As a relatively young cardinal, Poola is one of four Indian electors who will participate in the conclave, three of whom, including Poola, were named by Francis.

“Anyone who is coming up must be the successor of St. Peter, and we all hope that he will be a good pope,” he said.

Rossi, the Argentine cardinal, said he hoped that Francis’ message of “mercy, closeness, charity, tenderness and faith,” would accompany them in finding a successor.

But he acknowledged the job was daunting. Asked how he felt about participating in his first conclave, he responded with a laugh: “Afraid.″