Who can become pope?

Only i cardinals Riuniti in Conclave they have the right to elect the Pope, but they are not the only ones who can be elected. The custom says that in most cases the choice falls on one of them.

Who can be pope

Theoretically even a lay person can become pope: It must be a man, it must be celibate and must be baptized. The rules were established in the second half of the thirteenth century by Pope Gregory X who also indicated the need for the cardinals called to decide were fully free and therefore isolated. It still happens today with the conclave that takes place like this, inside the Sistine chapel behind closed doors. Nothing must leak.

Here all the rules of the conclave.

Are there cases of lay elections? In distant times yes. In 963 Lion VIII was elected, a deacon and presbyter consecrated and, the following day, bishop of Rome after being elected pontiff.

The month of May

In the past there were two conclants with the Pope’s elections in May, like this that will begin between 5 and 10 May. That of 1342 opened on May 5 in the papal residence of Avignon. After two days, Clemente VI, Cardinal Pierre Roger was elected. The second conclave of May dates back to 1605. It opened on 8 and, after 27 ballots, Cardinal Camillo Borghese, Pope Paul V, was elected, who commissioned the facade of the Basilica of San Pietro.

The voters

Of the 135 cardinals, who are under 80 years old and therefore possible voters, Pope Francis has appointed 108 of them. 22 were indicated by Benedict XVI and 5 by John Paul II. Only 16 are under 60 years old, most of them are over 70 years old. The youngest is the 45 -year -old Mykola Bychok, bishop of Melbourne, appointed cardinal by Pope Francis on December 7, 2024. It is no longer a Eurocentric conclave because Bergoglio’s appointments have aimed to expand the size of the Church. Cardinals come from 71 countries. Europeans are still the relative majority, 53, but historical locations such as Paris, Milan and the Patriarchate of Venice are missing. The electors of Asia are 23, 21 those of Latin America, 16 come from North America, 18 from Africa, 4 from Oceania.

In the 2005 Conclave 115 cardinals participated in the vote. 135, although some have already said that there will be no health reasons, it is a record number. Bergoglio was elected by Cardinals appointed by the two predecessors, in conservative theory. His appointments are in theory of progressive indication, but it is true only on paper. The Vaticanists do not expect a conclave with certain positions and a safe and shared name as it was for Ratzinger. Many cardinals do not have personal knowledge.