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LAST UPDATE | 24 Apr
ON TUESDAY MORNING, just over 24 hours after Pope Francis’s death was announced to the world by Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the College of Cardinals met in the Vatican.
There are 252 cardinals, but only 135 are under 80 and therefore eligible to vote in the Conclave to elect a new pope.
Francis himself appointed 108 of these 135 voting Cardinals and while many are aligned with his thinking, not all are.
Cardinal Fridolin Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who is thought to be a contender for the next pope, has openly opposed Francis’s decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples.
There was some upset at the swift pace of the first meeting of Cardinals following Francis’s death, officially titled the first General Congregation of the College of Cardinals.
Cardinals had received a letter on Monday summoning them to the Vatican in “preparation for the Conclave”, and Cardinals over 80 and without a Conclave vote were also invited to attend.
The first General Congregation of Cardinals took place Tuesday morning at the Vatican following the death of Pope Francis. Around 60 cardinals gathered for prayer. They solemnly took an oath to faithfully observe the norms governing the interregnum and the election of the new… pic.twitter.com/y4HnvmtvRs
— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) April 22, 2025
Some 60 Cardinals were in attendance, but Cardinal Joseph Zen from Hong Kong noted it was virtually impossible for many Cardinals from far-flung regions to attend.
At 93, Zen is too old to partake in the Conclave and at this first meeting of Cardinals, a decision was made on the date of Francis’s funeral, as well as decision to suspend the canonisation of the Church’s first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis.
“Cardinal Zen would like to know why the first session of the General Congregations has to start so early,” he wrote in a statement posted to social media.
The second General Congregation took place the next morning on Wednesday, with 103 Cardinals in attendance.
This meeting lasted around 90 minutes and the third meeting took place this morning.
It lasted close to three hours and 113 Cardinals were there.
The 113 Cardinals present in Rome held the third General Congregation on Thursday morning, and announced who will deliver the two pre-conclave meditations.
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 24, 2025
They agreed that Fr. Donato Ogliari, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls, will deliver the first meditation on… pic.twitter.com/vpeRYlhPKH
As well as confirming the meditations which will open up the Conclave, Cardinals were also able to take part in a “conversation about the Church and the world”.
Some 34 Cardinals chose to speak – it is not known who spoke, but it is likely they did so with the Conclave in mind.
As per the rules of the Church, the Conclave has to take place some time between 6 May and 11 May.
The next General Congregation will take place tomorrow morning at 9am.
Meanwhile, a Rosary will take place tonight and tomorrow night outside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which is where Francis will be buried.
He will be the first pope since Leo XIII, who died in 1903, to be buried outside of the Vatican.
Tonight’s Rosary will be led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
It could provide a good means for Tagle to position himself at the next pope in the minds of fellow Cardinals.
Tagle is Asia’s frontrunner for the papacy, a charismatic moderate who has not been afraid to criticise the Church for its shortcomings, including over sexual abuse of minors.
Fluent in English, he is an eloquent speaker with self-deprecating humour and, like Francis, is a leading advocate for the poor, migrants and marginalised people.
He had already been considered a candidate for pope in the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Tomorrow’s Rosary meanwhile will be presided over by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Pizzaballa is the top Catholic in the Middle East, with an archdiocese encompassing Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Cyprus.
The Italian was made a cardinal in September 2023, shortly before the war broke out between Israel and Hamas.
In October 2023, Pizzaballa offered himself in exchange for those held hostage by Hamas.
“If this can lead to freedom and bring those children back home, no problem. On my part, absolute willingness,” said Pizzaballa at the time.
He has also appealed for peace from both sides, and at Christmas in 2024 led Mass both in Gaza and in Jerusalem.
There hasn’t been an Italian pope since the September Pope, John Paul I, who died on 28 September, 1978, a mere 33 days into his papacy.
The Italian Church would be keen for another Italian pope after a drought, while there would be great symbolism to having a new pope with such intimate knowledge of the Middle East.
However, for the first time in history, fewer than half of Cardinal electors will be from Europe and perhaps they will be keen to have a new leader from outside of Europe.
Elsewhere, other contenders deemed to be “papabile” include Pietro Parolin and Peter Turkson.
Parolin had been the number two at the Vatican during nearly all of Francis’s papacy, acting as Vatican Secretary of State.
He is known to many world leaders, having travelled the globe, but also to many inside the Roman Curia, the government of the Holy See.
A member of Francis’s Council of Cardinals, an advisory body, Parolin played a key role in the historic 2018 deal between the Holy See and China on the appointment of bishops.
This deal gave Chinese officials some input into who Francis appointed as bishops in the country, and in return the underground Catholic Church in China was given more freedom.
Turkson meanwhile is one of the Church’s most influential Cardinals from Africa, although he said in 2010 that he didn’t want to become the first black pope, insisting any such pope would “have a rough time”.
Born into a humble family of 10 children, Turkson speaks six languages and has visited the World Economic Forum in Davos multiple times to convince business leaders of the perils of trickle-down economics.
The Church in Africa booming and the number of Catholics globally is set to increase, rather than decrease, with the continent more than making up for losses in Europe and the western world.
Perhaps Cardinals will be keen to reward a region where the faith is flourishing and in good health.
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