Conclave to elect new pope will start on May 7, cardinals beginning to arrive at the Vatican

British Cardinal Vincent Nichols is approached by reporters as he arrives for a college of cardinals’ meeting, at the Vatican, yesterday

Catholic cardinals yesterday set May 7 as the start date for the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor, delaying the secret voting for two days to help them 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 out questions to the cardinals about the mood inside, whether there was unity, and when the conclave would begin. A reporter for a satirical Italian television program repeatedly asked whether an Italian cardinal who has been convicted by the Vatican criminal court on finance-related charges would be allowed to vote.

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

Many cardinals cited the desire to continue Francis’ pastoral focus on people who are marginalized and against war. But conservatives in the ranks 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,” said Nichols.

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 views of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Many have spent little or no time in Rome getting to know their 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 yesterday.

Only cardinals under 80 are eligible to vote , and it is not clear how many of the 135 will participate. A Spanish cardinal has already 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.”

Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, considered a contender to be the next pope, navigated the scrum of converging journalists with humor, but didn’t give anything away. He joked that he was “holding his breath” as the microphones and cameras surrounded him all the way to the Vatican gate. NICOLE WINFIELD, VATICAN, MDT/AP