Cardinals who will elect Pope Francis’ successor throng Rome as likely successors listed

Even as the more than 1.4 billion Roman Catholics around the world continue to mourn Pope Francis, speculation is building as to who among the 135 red-robed cardinals eligible to vote will succeed him.

The cardinals, who have started trooping in at the Vatican after being summoned by the dean of the College of Cardinals, will set the election date for the start of the conclave, which must be less than 20 days after the pope’s death.

As of April 21, 2025, there was a total of 252 cardinals, 135 of them cardinal electors under 80 years, according to data published by the Vatican. 108 of the electors were appointed by Pope Francis, while 22 by his predecessor, Benedict and five by John Paul II.

Europe leads with 53 cardinal electors, Asia 23, North America 20, Africa 18, South America 17, and Oceania 4.

While Europe still has the largest share of cardinal electors, with about 39%, it is currently down from 52% in 2013 when Pope Francis became the first Latin American pontiff.

In a break away from tradition, Pope Francis appointed more than 20 cardinals from countries that had never previously had a cardinal, nearly all of them from developing countries such as Rwanda, Cape Verde, Tonga, Myanmar, Mongolia, and South Sudan, or countries with very few Catholics, such as Sweden.

The more cardinals that a pope names during his reign, automatically increases the possibility that his successor will be someone who holds similar views on church and social issues. However, this is not always the case, as the cardinals may choose a person theologically dissimilar to his predecessor but considered the best candidate for internal church reasons or for the historical times in which the election takes place.

Cardinal electors need a majority of at least two-thirds plus one to elect the new pope, so the voting can take several rounds spread over numerous days. When the conclave has finally elected a pope, the pope-elect is asked if he accepts the mandate and what name he wishes to take. Once this is done, he dons papal vestments and sits on a throne in the Sistine Chapel to receive the other cardinals who file up to pay homage and pledge obedience.

Top candidates lined up to succeed Pope Francis include the Vatican’s Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the 70-year-old cardinal from Italy; 67-year-old Cardinal Luis Antonio, the leader of the Vatican office for evangelization from the Philippines; the Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, aged 69, from Italy; and Africa’s Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, aged 76, a Vatican official from Ghana.