Cardinal Angelo Becciu is instead considered a non-elector, but this status is still being determined. Pope Francis had asked him to renounce his prerogatives as a cardinal but has continued to invite him to consistories and Masses, where he has always sat among the cardinals. If a decision is not made before then, the College of Cardinals, with a majority vote, will decide whether or not Becciu will be admitted to the conclave.
Regional distribution
The balance crucially stays the same. Europe has received three more cardinals, in addition to the four Italians with the right to vote: Nemet of Belgrade, 58; Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, 52, coadjutor archpriest of the papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore since March; and Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe, 79. Europe now has 55 cardinals.
Latin America has received five new cardinals. The purple has arrived in dioceses that have received it several times — with Archbishop Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, 74, in Lima, Peru, and Archbishop Fernando N. Chomali Garib, 67, in Santiago de Chile — or only once — with Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, 69, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Archbishop Jaime Spengler, 64, who is also president of CELAM (the Episcopal Conference of Latin America), in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The red birretta to Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic, 72, of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, is also a first. However, in this case, the ground had already been prepared by the recent decision to move the title of primate of Argentina from Buenos Aires to this seat. Overall, Latin America now has 24 cardinals (including Braco, emeritus of Santiago de Chile, born in Spain).
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Asia has received four new cardinals. The pope gave the red hat to Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, 66, and to the bishops of two dioceses that have never had a cardinal at the helm: Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, 65, of Kalookan in the Philippines, and Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, 61, of Tehran.
Africa has received two new cardinals, bringing the continent’s total to 18. The two new ones are Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, 62, in Algiers, and Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo, 63, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
North America now has 14 electors, with the addition of Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo, 53. Oceania has four electors, with the creation of Bishop Mykola Bychok of the eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul in Melbourne of the Ukrainians as cardinal. At 44, he has become the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.
National representation
Italy remains the most represented nation in the conclave, with 17 electors (plus two more in Asia). The United States has 10 cardinal electors, and Spain has seven (with another three in Morocco, Chile, and France).
Brazil has increased to seven electors, and India to six electors. France remains at five electors, to which Vesco in North Africa has been added. Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio, is anagraphically Spanish although naturalized French.
Argentina and Canada join Poland and Portugal with four cardinal electors, while Germany is tied with the Philippines and Great Britain with three.
The weight of cardinal electors engaged in the Curia, in other Roman roles or the nunciatures, has decreased, like that of the Italians. They will be 34 out of 140, a historic low.
Of the 21 new cardinals, 10 (all electors) belong to religious orders and congregations, another record. The number of religious electors in the sacred college has risen from 27 to 35. The Friars Minor joined the Salesians at five and surpassed the Jesuits, who remain at four. The Franciscan family grows to 10 electors (five Minors, three Conventuals, and two Capuchins). The Lazarists and Redemptorists rise to two.
What would a possible conclave be like?
As of Dec. 8, Pope Francis has created 78% of the cardinals who can vote in a conclave. This means that the cardinals created by Pope Francis far exceed the two-thirds majority needed to elect a pope.
This does not necessarily mean that the conclave will be “Francis-like.” Not only do the new cardinals all have very different profiles, but they have yet to have much opportunity to get to know each other. Popes have also used consistories to bring together cardinals to discuss issues of general interest.
Pope Francis had done so only three times: in 2014, when the family was discussed; in 2015, when the topic was the reform of the Curia; and in 2022, when the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, or the reform of the Curia now defined and promulgated, was discussed.
In this last meeting, the cardinals were divided into linguistic groups, with fewer opportunities to speak in the assembly together. This scenario makes the vote very uncertain.
Another fact that should be noted is that until St. John Paul II’s election, the cardinals gathered in the conclave were housed in makeshift accommodations in the Apostolic Palace near the Sistine Chapel. John Paul II had the Domus Sanctae Marthae (St. Martha House) renovated precisely to guarantee the cardinals who would elect his successor more adequate accommodations.
Today, however, Pope Francis lives in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. This means that, upon the pope’s death, at least the floor where the pontiff lives must be sealed, as the papal apartment is sealed. Sealing a floor of the Domus also means losing a considerable number of rooms. And with such a high number of voters, it also means risking not having enough rooms to accommodate all the cardinals.
The electors could be placed in vacant apartments within Vatican City State. This, however, would make them even more isolated. In practice, there is a risk that, during the conclave, the cardinals would not always be able to be together to discuss the election.
For these reasons, although Pope Francis has created more than two-thirds of the cardinal electors, it is by no means certain that the pope chosen in a future conclave will have the same profile as Pope Francis.
Andrea Gagliarducci is an Italian journalist for Catholic News Agency and Vatican analyst for ACI Stampa. He is a contributor to the National Catholic Register.
