Pope Leo XIV

Vatican

New Pope, Conclave to start Wednesday 7 May, first vote in the afternoon. Becciu towards step back

The decision of the Congregations of Cardinals in the morning meeting

by Redaction Rome

28 April 2025

Ecco come il Conclave sceglie il nuovo Papa

5' min read

Key points

At today's congregation around one hundred cardinal electors
Bruni: no resolution yet on Becciu case
Sistine Chapel closes from today ahead of conclave
Congregational meetings and 'novendial' masses
The Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Grecis
Twenty days from the beginning of the Sede Vacante

5' min read

During today's meeting of the General Congregations of Cardinals, gathered at the Vatican, the date of the Conclave that is to elect Pope Francis' successor was decided: Wednesday 7 May. "There is the date of the conclave, it will be communicated," Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi had said at the exit of the congregations. The director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni explained that the first vote, and therefore the first smoke, will take place on 7 May afternoon. In the morning the cardinals will participate in the "Pro eligendo Pontefice" mass, then in the afternoon the entrance into the Sistine Chapel.

Cardinal Becciu towards a step backwards

Meanwhile, Cardinal Angelo Becciu has reportedly decided to take a step back on the issue of his entry into the conclave. According to sources present at this morning's general congregation, Becciu would have taken the floor to reiterate his position, that of having the right to be an elector. But in the end he would still have communicated the step back. It is also reported that this decision could be communicated later today in an official note from the cardinal himself.

At today's congregation about one hundred cardinal electors

Today's meeting was attended by some 180-190 cardinals, including "about a hundred cardinal electors". "After the opening prayer, attendance was counted," Bruni recounted, "there was the swearing-in of the cardinals who had not yet taken the oath, and about twenty speeches followed. The main theme was that of the Church and its relationship with the world, the challenges ahead, but also the qualities that the new Pope must have in order to respond to these challenges'. At the beginning of today's meeting, which ended at 12:25pm, "the three cardinals who help the camerlengo in his work, Cardinal Marx, Cardinal Tagle and Cardinal Mamberti, were drawn.

Bruni: no resolution yet on Becciu case

Bruni then clarified that in this morning's congregation of cardinals the case concerning Cardinal Angelo Becciu was discussed. "It was discussed but there is no resolution yet," he said.

Sistine Chapel closes from today in view of the conclave

Meanwhile, as of today the Sistine Chapel is closed to the public in view of the conclave. The announcement was made by the direction of the Vatican Museums on its website. "It is announced that the Sistine Chapel," it reads, "will be closed to the public as of Monday 28 April 2025 for the needs of the conclave. All visits to the Vatican Gardens and the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis are likewise suspended".

Congregational meetings and 'novendial' masses

The week's calendar includes congregations in the morning at 9.00am and, in the afternoon at 5.00pm, the 'novendiali' masses in the Vatican Basilica: the cycle of nine days of suffrage, which began on Saturday 26 April with the exequial mass presided over in St. Peter's Square by Cardinal Dean Giovanni Battista Re, will end on Sunday 4 May. After that the possible entry into the Sistine Chapel and the "extra omnes" that opens the Conclave. The 135 "electors" (133 considering the forfeit for health reasons of Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera and Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo Vinko Puljić) are converging on Rome. Many will meet directly in the congregations, where, when it comes to the strategies that will lead to the election of the new Pope, the weight of non-electors, i.e. the 'over-80' cardinals, who retain their ability to influence and steer consensus, will also count a lot. A sort of 'great electors', in short, even if then in the confines of the Sistine each one answers to himself and, according to the Catholic yardstick, to the Holy Spirit.

Among these 'grand old men' there is certainly the 91/year-old Dean Re, while it is not known among the Italians how much former Italian Bishops' Conference presidents such as Camillo Ruini and Angelo Bagnasco will be able to exercise a guiding role. Among the foreigners with the ability to move votes, and not present in the Conclave, there are the Cardinal of Boston Sean Patrick O'Malley, the most active promoter of the fight against sexual abuse, the Cardinal of Vienna Christoph Schoenborn, a fine theologian and former pupil of Joseph Ratzinger and trustee of Pope Bergoglio in the leadership roles of various Synods such as those on the family, or the former Prefect of the Bishops, the Canadian Marc Ouellet, influential also in Latin America, as former president of the Pontifical Commission.

The Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Grecis

Establishing the functioning of the General Congregations of Cardinals is the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Grecis, drafted by John Paul II in 1996 and then amended in 2013 by Pope Francis, which lays down the norms to be observed "concerning the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of the Roman Pontiff". In the Constitution it is stated that the College of Cardinals is "entrusted with the government of the Church solely for the handling of ordinary affairs or those that cannot be postponed and for the preparation of what is necessary for the election of the new Pontiff". It also indicates how cardinals are to dress during the General Congregations with "the usual black threaded cassock and red sash, with zucchetto, pectoral cross and ring". The Congregations must "establish the day, the hour and the manner in which the body of the deceased Pontiff will be brought to the Vatican Basilica, to be exposed to the homage of the faithful"; and "all that is necessary for the funeral of the deceased Pontiff, which must be celebrated for nine consecutive days, and fix the beginning of the funeral so that the burial will take place, except for special reasons, between the fourth and sixth day after death". The task of the Congregation is also to provide for "the assignment by lot of the rooms to the Cardinal electors; they shall establish the day and hour of the beginning of the voting operations". The right to elect the new Pontiff belongs "solely to the Cardinals, with the exception of those who, before the day of the Supreme Pontiff's death or the day on which the Apostolic See becomes vacant, have already reached the age of 80 years".

The maximum limit of twenty days from the beginning of the Sede Vacante

According to the Constitution, one must wait "a full fifteen days" before beginning the Conclave, and the College of Cardinals also has the faculty "to anticipate the beginning of the Conclave if all the Cardinal electors are present, as well as the faculty to postpone, if there are serious reasons, the beginning of the election for a few more days. When, however, a maximum of twenty days have elapsed from the beginning of the Sede Vacante, all the Cardinal electors present are obliged to proceed to the election".