How many eligible cardinals

President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Archbishop Emeritus of Lyon , France. Archbishop of Valladolid , Spain. Archbishop of Managua , Nicaragua. Archbishop Emeritus of Lima , Peru. Archbishop of Toronto , Ontario, Canada. Archbishop Emeritus of Karachi , Pakistan. Archbishop of Wellington , New Zealand.

Archbishop Emeritus of Dhaka , Bangladesh. Archbishop of Utrecht , Netherlands. Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest , Hungary. Archbishop of San Cristobal de la Habana , Cuba. They are summoned to a meeting at the Vatican which is followed by the Papal election - or Conclave.

There are currently cardinals from 69 countries. The rules of the Conclave were changed in to exclude all cardinals over the age of 80 from voting. The maximum number of cardinal electors is During the forthcoming Conclave, there will be cardinal-electors: they have to be younger than 80 to be eligible to vote, but Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, the 78 year-old Archbishop Emeritus of Jakarta, has ruled himself out of travelling to Rome due to the "progressive deterioration" of his vision.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien - Britain's most senior Catholic cleric - has also been ruled out of the voting after his resignation over allegations of inappropriate conduct. Normally the Dean of the College of Cardinals would be responsible for the convoking the Conclave.

However, as the Dean, Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, is 85 and too old to vote, the senior cardinal-elector, Giovanni Battista Re, takes on the responsibility.

About half 60 are European, and 21 are Italian. During the time between the Pope's resignation and the election of his successor, the college of cardinals will govern the Church, headed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, as the cardinal camerlengo - or chamberlain. It is his job to supervise the whole election process, with secret votes being held four times daily inside the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. During the Conclave, cardinals reside within the Vatican and are not permitted any contact with the outside world.

During this period all the cardinals - retirees included - will begin to discuss in strict secrecy the merits of likely candidates. The cardinals do not have to choose one of their own number - theoretically any baptised male Catholic can be elected pope - but tradition says that they will almost certainly give the job to a cardinal. The Vatican talks about the cardinals being guided by the Holy Spirit. But although open campaigning is forbidden, a papal election is still a highly political process.

The coalition-builders have about two weeks to forge alliances and senior cardinals who may themselves have little chance of becoming pope can still exert a considerable influence over the others. Secret conclave. The election of a pope is conducted in conditions of secrecy unique in the modern world. The cardinals are shut away in the Vatican until they reach agreement - the meaning of the word conclave indicating that they are literally locked up "with a key".

The election process can take days. In previous centuries it has gone on for weeks or months and some cardinals have even died during conclaves. The process is designed to prevent any of the details of the voting emerging, either during or after the conclave. The threat of excommunication hangs over anyone tempted to break this silence.

But Benedict XVI changed the requirements back so that a two-thirds majority is required, meaning the man elected is likely to be a compromise candidate. Jean-Baptiste [ English - Italian ]. Karl-Josef [ English - Italian ]. Francesco [ English - Italian ]. Paul Josef [ English - Italian ].

Giovanni [ English - Italian ]. Antonios [ English - Italian ]. Justin Francis [ English - Italian ]. Santos [ English - Italian ]. Roger Michael [ English - Italian ]. Anthony Olubunmi [ English - Italian ]. Ennio [ English - Italian ]. Audrys Juozas [ English - Italian ].

Toribio [ English - Italian ]. Antonio Maria [ English - Italian ]. Paolo [ English - Italian ]. Manuel [ English - Italian ].

Pierre [ English - Italian ]. Alberto [ English - Italian ]. Edwin Frederick [ English - Italian ]. John [ English - Italian ]. Edoardo [ English - Italian ]. Telesphore Placidus [ English - Italian ]. Felipe [ English - Italian ]. Enrico [ English - Italian ].

Lorenzo [ English - Italian ]. Silvano Maria [ English - Italian ]. Donald William [ English - Italian ]. Gabriel [ English - Italian ]. George [ English - Italian ].

Beniamino [ English - Italian ]. Gualtiero [ English - Italian ]. Ricardo [ English - Italian ]. Norberto [ English - Italian ]. Gregorio [ English - Italian ]. Giuseppe [ English - Italian ]. Gianfranco [ English - Italian ]. Domenico [ English - Italian ]. Crescenzio [ English - Italian ]. Leonardo [ English - Italian ]. Andrew [ English - Italian ]. Jean [ English - Italian ]. Juan Luis [ English - Italian ].

John Olorunfemi [ English - Italian ]. Louis-Marie Ling [ English - Italian ]. I [ English - Italian ]. Polycarp [ English - Italian ]. Mauro [ English - Italian ]. Jean-Pierre [ English - Italian ]. Baltazar Enrique [ English - Italian ]. Oswald [ English - Italian ]. Philippe Nakellentuba [ English - Italian ]. Carlos [ English - Italian ]. Robert [ English - Italian ]. Joseph [ English - Italian ]. Vinko [ English - Italian ].

Antonio [ English - Italian ]. Gerard Vincent [ English - Italian ]. Mario [ English - Italian ]. Fernando [ English - Italian ]. Thomas Christopher [ English - Italian ]. Kevin Joseph [ English - Italian ]. Albert Malcolm Ranjith [ English - Italian ]. Mario Aurelio [ English - Italian ]. Wilton Daniel [ English - Italian ]. Marcello [ English - Italian ]. Gerhard Ludwig [ English - Italian ].

John Atcherley [ English - Italian ]. Giovanni Angelo [ English - Italian ]. Raymond Leo [ English - Italian ]. Juan de la Caridad [ English - Italian ]. Peter Kodwo Appiah [ English - Italian ]. Thomas Aquino Manyo [ English - Italian ]. Josip [ English - Italian ]. Daniel Nicholas [ English - Italian ]. Francis Xavier Kriengsak [ English - Italian ].

Odilo Pedro [ English - Italian ]. James Michael [ English - Italian ].