The 2025 conclave in numbers

By Rommel F. Lopez

As the cardinals of the Catholic Church prepare to head into the conclave that will select the 266th successor of St. Peter, here are some interesting facts and figures related to the Sacred College.

Snapshot of the College of Cardinals

The College of Cardinals has a total membership of 252 from 94 countries. Due to the canonical age limitation of 80, only 135 cardinals from 71 countries are eligible to participate in the coming conclave. This is the conclave with the most number of cardinal-electors.

The College of Cardinals

Out of the 135 electors, 108 were created by Pope Francis, 22 by Pope Benedict XVI, and 5 by St. John Paul II, according to the Vatican.

The Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis mandates that conclaves must begin 15 to 20 days after a pope dies or resigns. Cardinals can start the proceedings before the 15-day mark, but only if all electors are present.

However, Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, the archbishop emeritus of Valencia, Spain, has notified the Holy See that he would not be participating in the upcoming conclave due to health concerns. This brings down the official number of cardinal-electors to 134.

The countries with the highest number of cardinal-electors are Italy (17), the United States (10), and Brazil (7).

Filipino cardinals Jose Advincula (73), Luis Antonio Tagle (67), and Pablo Virgilio David (66) are participating in the conclave. Cardinals Orlando Quevedo (86) and Gaudencio Rosales (92) are ineligible to vote due to the age restriction.

The average age of cardinal-electors is 70, with the majority of electors in the 70s.  Cardinals aged 76 and 79 both have 15 electors.

The youngest cardinal-elector is 45-year-old Mykola Cardinal Bychok C.SS.R., cardinal-priest of S. Sofia a Via Boccea and bishop of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians (Australia). He is a bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, an autonomous (sui juris) Eastern Catholic church in communion with the Holy See. He was created cardinal on Dec. 7, 2024 in Pope Francis’s last consistory.

The oldest cardinal-elector is Carlos Cardinal Osoro Sierra, 79, cardinal-priest of S. Maria in Trastevere, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Madrid (Spain) and ordinary emeritus of Spain of the Eastern Rite (Spain). He was created cardinal on Nov. 19, 2016 by Pope Francis. He will turn 80 on May 16.

Conclave Veterans

These are the last cardinals named by John Paul II in the 2003 Consistory that created 26 voting-age cardinals and four non-voting age cardinals. One cardinal was created in pectore but was never revealed.  The following participated in the 2005 and 2013 conclaves. They will be participating in the 2025 conclave.

Josip Cardinal Bozanić
Archbishop Emeritus of Zagreb, Croatia

Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson
Chancellor of the Roman Curia

However, in the past, there were cardinals who were able to participate in four separate conclaves.

These were Paul-Émile Cardinal Léger, P.S.S., archbishop emeritus of Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, archbishop emeritus of Genova-Bobbio, Italy

Both were created cardinals by Pius XII in 1953.  Both participated in the conclaves of 1958 (which elected John XXIII), 1963 (which elected Paul VI) and the twin conclaves of 1978 (August and October). The year 1978 is often called “The year of Three Popes,” as the world saw three popes reign on the same year: Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II. #PressOnePH

References:

Vatican Press Office: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali—statistiche/composizione-per-area.html, https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation.html

College of Cardinals Report: https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/

Catholic Hierarchy.org: https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/scardc3.html