Mumbai, May 6: Who will elect the next Pope? How many cardinals are taking part in the 2025 papal conclave? If you are looking for answers to such questions, you have come to the right place. The papal conclave to elect the next head of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Francis' successor will begin on Wednesday, May 7. It is worth noting that tomorrow's conclave to choose the next pope will be the most geographically diverse papal conclave in history. A total of 135 cardinal electors who are part of the College of Cardinals will meet at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to elect the next pope.

According to statistics released by the Vatican, the 135 cardinal electors hail from 71 countries across five continents. Of the 135 cardinal electors, 108 were appointed by Pope Francis alone, whereas Pope Benedict XVI and Pope St John Paul II appointed 22 and five cardinals each, respectively. Two of the 135 cardinals have informed the Holy See that they won't be attending the 2025 papal conclave due to health reasons, thereby bringing the number of cardinal electors to 133. How Long Was the 2013 Papal Conclave? Who Were the Indian Cardinals Who Attended Conclave? All About Election That Made Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio Pope Francis.

Names of Cardinals and Their Countries Taking Part in Papal Conclave

1  Pietro Parolin  Italy 
2  Fernando Filoni  Italy 
3  Luis Antonio Tagle  Philippines 
4  Robert Francis Prevost OSA  United States 
5  Louis Raphaël I Sako  Iraq 
6  Vinko Puljić  Bosnia and Herzegovina 
7  Peter Turkson  Ghana 
8  Josip Bozanić  Croatia 
9  Philippe Barbarin  France 
10  Péter Erdő  Hungary 
11  Stanisław Ryłko  Poland 
12  Francisco Robles Ortega  Mexico 
13  Daniel DiNardo  United States 
14  Odilo Scherer  Brazil 
15  Robert Sarah  Guinea 
16  Raymond Leo Burke  United States 
17  Kurt Koch  Switzerland 
18  Kazimierz Nycz  Poland 
19  Malcolm Ranjith  Sri Lanka 
20  Reinhard Marx  Germany 
21  João Braz de Aviz  Brazil 
22  Thomas Collins  Canada 
23  Wim Eijk  Netherlands 
24  Giuseppe Betori  Italy 
25  Timothy Dolan  United States 
26  Rainer Woelki  Germany 
27  James Michael Harvey  United States 
28  Baselios Cleemis  India 
29  Gerhard Ludwig Müller  Germany 
30  Vincent Nichols  United Kingdom 
31  Leopoldo Brenes  Nicaragua 
32  Gérald Lacroix ISPX  Canada 
33  Jean-Pierre Kutwa  Ivory Coast 
34  Orani João Tempesta OCist  Brazil 
35  Mario Aurelio Poli  Argentina 
36  Philippe Ouédraogo  Burkina Faso 
37  Chibly Langlois  Haiti 
38  Manuel Clemente  Portugal 
39  Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel CM  Ethiopia 
40  John Dew  New Zealand 
41  Charles Maung Bo SDB  Myanmar 
42  Kriengsak Kovitvanit  Thailand 
43  Francesco Montenegro  Italy 
44  Daniel Sturla SDB  Uruguay 
45  Arlindo Gomes Furtado  Cape Verde 
46  Soane Patita Paini Mafi  Tonga 
47  Dieudonné Nzapalainga CSSp  Central African Republic 
48  Carlos Osoro Sierra  Spain 
49  Sérgio da Rocha  Brazil 
50  Blase J. Cupich  United States 
51  Jozef De Kesel  Belgium 
52  Carlos Aguiar Retes  Mexico 
53  John Ribat MSC  Papua New Guinea 
54  Joseph W. Tobin CSsR  United States 
55  Juan José Omella  Spain 
56  Anders Arborelius OCD  Sweden 
57  Angelo De Donatis  Italy 
58  Joseph Coutts  Pakistan 
59  António Marto  Portugal 
60  Désiré Tsarahazana  Madagascar 
61  Giuseppe Petrocchi  Italy 
62  Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda  Japan 
63  Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo  Indonesia 
64  Juan García Rodríguez  Cuba 
65  Fridolin Ambongo Besungu OFMCap  Democratic Republic of the Congo 
66  Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ  Luxembourg 
67  Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri  Guatemala 
68  Matteo Zuppi  Italy 
69  Cristóbal López Romero SDB  Morocco
70  Antoine Kambanda  Rwanda 
71  Wilton Daniel Gregory  United States 
72  Jose Advincula OP  Philippines 
73  Augusto Paolo Lojudice  Italy 
74  Jean-Marc Aveline  France 
75  Peter Okpaleke  Nigeria 
76  Leonardo Ulrich Steiner OFM  Brazil 
77  Filipe Neri Ferrão  India 
78  Robert McElroy  United States 
79  Virgílio do Carmo da Silva SDB  Timor-Leste 
80  Oscar Cantoni  Italy 
81  Anthony Poola  India 
82  Paulo Cezar Costa  Brazil 
83  William Goh  Singapore 
84  Adalberto Martínez Flores  Paraguay 
85  Giorgio Marengo IMC  Mongolia
86  Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM  Jerusalem
87  Stephen Brislin  South Africa 
88  Ángel Sixto Rossi SJ  Argentina 
89  Luis José Rueda Aparicio  Colombia 
90  Grzegorz Ryś  Poland 
91  Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla  South Sudan 
92  José Cobo Cano  Spain 
93  Protase Rugambwa  Tanzania 
94  Sebastian Francis  Malaysia 
95  Stephen Chow Sau-yan SJ  China
96  François-Xavier Bustillo OFMConv  France
97  Américo Aguiar  Portugal 
98  Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio  Peru 
99  Vicente Bokalic Iglic CM  Argentina 
100  Luis Cabrera Herrera OFM  Ecuador 
101  Fernando Chomalí Garib  Chile 
102  Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi SVD  Japan 
103  Pablo Virgilio David  Philippines 
104  Ladislav Nemet SVD  Serbia
105  Jaime Spengler OFM  Brazil 
106  Ignace Bessi Dogbo  Ivory Coast 
107  Jean-Paul Vesco OP  Algeria
108  Dominique Mathieu OFMConv  Iran
109  Roberto Repole  Italy 
110  Baldassare Reina  Italy 
111  Frank Leo  Canada 
112  Mykola Bychok CSsR  Australia
113  Domenico Battaglia  Italy 
114  Dominique Mamberti  France 
115  Mario Zenari  Italy 
116  Kevin Farrell  United States
117  Konrad Krajewski  Poland 
118  José Tolentino de Mendonça  Portugal 
119  Michael Czerny SJ  Canada
120  Mario Grech  Malta 
121  Marcello Semeraro  Italy 
122  Mauro Gambetti OFMConv  Italy 
123  Arthur Roche  United Kingdom 
124  Lazarus You Heung-sik  South Korea 
125  Claudio Gugerotti  Italy 
126  Víctor Manuel Fernández  Argentina 
127  Emil Paul Tscherrig  Switzerland 
128  Christophe Pierre  France 
129  Ángel Fernández Artime SDB  Spain 
130  Rolandas Makrickas  Lithuania 
131  Timothy Radcliffe OP  United Kingdom 
132  Fabio Baggio CS  Italy 
133  George Koovakad  India 

What Is the Two-Third Majority To Be Elected As Pope? How Many Indian Cardinals at Conclave?

A cardinal requires a two-thirds majority to be elected as the new pope and head of the Roman Catholic Church. If the number of cardinal electors is 133, then the winning cardinal needs to secure 89 votes to become the 267th pope. At this year's papal conclave, Italy has the most number of cardinals at 17, followed by the United States with 10 cardinals, Brazil with seven cardinals, and France and Spain with five cardinals each. Who Are 4 Indian Cardinals Set To Vote for the Next Pope in Papal Conclave After Pope Francis’ Death?

So, where does India stand in terms of Indian cardinals at the conclave? India, along with Argentina, Canada, Poland, and Portugal, has four cardinals, each of whom will vote to elect the next pope. The Vatican also said that the youngest Cardinal in the College is Cardinal Mikola Bychok (45), while the oldest is Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra (79), who hails from Spain.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 06, 2025 08:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).