Conclave 2025: Some Data

After Pope Francis’ death on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, the conclave will be convened to elect his successor. It will begin on May 5 at the earliest and May 10 at the latest. Since the conclave consists of all cardinals under the age of 80 and since cardinals are appointed (“created”) by the Pope completely freely, each pontificate has a considerable influence on the composition of the following conclave. The compilation of the following data is not intended to be suggestive and should not be over-interpreted, but it may highlight some accents of Pope Francis’ pontificate. The information has been compiled with the help of the official dashboard https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali—statistiche/dashboard-collegio-cardinalizio.html and the private website www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Errors cannot be ruled out.

Cardinals eligible to vote: 135 (for comparison: in 2013, 117 out of 119 eligible voters took part in the conclave)

Cardinals aged 70 to 79: 77 (that is 57.0% of all potential voters, in comparison: 73 of the 117 voters in 2013 were between 70 and 79 years old, which is 62.4%)

Cardinals under 60 years: 15 (11.1%; in 2013 there were 5 cardinals under 60, which is 4.2%)

Cardinals under 50 years: 1 (2013: none)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to a religious order: 33 (2013: 16)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to the Jesuit order: 4 (1)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to a Franciscan order (Franciscans, Capuchins, Minorites): 8 (4)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to a Benedictine order (Benedictines, Cistercians, Trappists): 1 (0)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to the Salesian order: 5 (4)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to the Redemptorist order: 2 (1)

Cardinals eligible to vote appointed by John Paul II: 5 (50)

Cardinals eligible to vote appointed by Benedict XVI: 22 (67)

Cardinals eligible to vote appointed by Francis: 108 (0)

Cardinals eligible to vote who belong to an Eastern Catholic Church: 5 (4)

Cardinals eligible to vote who work in a papal dicastery, in the Archdiocese of Rome, in the diplomatic service, or who have been given emeritus status from there: 30 (40)

In the following, cardinals whose current or last office is or was in the Roman Curia are not counted. However, diocesan bishops emeriti are included.

Diocesan bishops from Africa eligible to vote: 16 (9)

Diocesan bishops from Asia/Australia/Oceania eligible to vote: 24 (9)

Diocesan bishops from the USA eligible to vote: 6 (7)

Diocesan bishops from Canada eligible to vote: 3 (2)

Diocesan bishops from Central and South America eligible to vote: 20 (15)

Diocesan bishops from Mexico eligible to vote: 2 (3)

Diocesan bishops from Argentina eligible to vote: 3 (1)

Diocesan bishops from Brazil eligible to vote: 6 (3)

Diocesan bishops from Germany eligible to vote: 2 (4)

Diocesan bishops from Austria eligible to vote: 0 (1)

Diocesan bishops from Italy eligible to vote: 8 (8)

Diocesan bishops from France eligible to vote: 3 (3)

Diocesan bishops from Poland eligible to vote: 2 (2)

Diocesan bishops from Ukraine eligible to vote: 0 (0)

Diocesan bishops from India eligible to vote: 3 (4)

Diocesan bishops from the Philippines eligible to vote: 2 (1)

Eligible cardinal with the lowest age at his priestly ordination:
Péter Erdő (born in 1952, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest since 2002, was ordained a few days before his 23rd birthday)

Eligible cardinal with the highest age at his priestly ordination:
Jean-Paul Vesco, O.P. (born in 1962, Archbishop of Algiers since 2022, was ordained at the age of 39)

Eligible cardinal with the lowest age at his episcopal ordination:
Robert Sarah (born in 1945, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, was ordained bishop at the age of 34)

Eligible cardinal with the highest age at his episcopal ordination:
Michael Czerny, S.J. (born in 1946, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2022, was ordained bishop at the age of 69)

Only cardinal eligible to vote who is not a bishop:
Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. (born in 1945, former Master of the Order of Preachers, appointed Cardinal at the end of 2024 at the age of 79)