The cardinals who will choose the next pope

The only Maltese cardinal, former Gozo Bishop Mario Grech, will get to vote for the next pope when the conclave takes place in the coming weeks.

Grech will be one of the 135 cardinals with a right to vote.

Appointed cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020, Grech is the first Maltese cardinal in almost two centuries to get to choose the next pope. The last one to do so was Fabrizio Sceberras Testaferrata, who was made cardinal in 1818.

Cardinals who reach the age of 80 cannot vote, which explains why only 135 of the 252 living cardinals will be choosing the next pope. Indeed, Malta’s only other cardinal in history, Augustinian friar Prospero Grech, could not vote since he was older than 80 when appointed cardinal in 2012. Prospero Grech died in 2019 at the age of 94.

To become pope, a person requires two-thirds of the vote, which would equate to at least 90 cardinals throwing their weight behind an individual. And although historically cardinals have always chosen a pope from among themselves, anyone can become pope as long as they are male and baptised.

Majority appointed by Francis

Information obtained from the Holy See’s official website shows that the vast majority of cardinal electors were appointed by Pope Francis during his 12-year pontificate.

Only five elector cardinals hark back to the time of Pope John Paul II, while 22 were appointed by Pope Benedict XVI.

This means that 80% of those forming part of the next conclave – more than the two-thirds necessary to choose a pope – were appointed by Pope Francis. However, this does not necessarily translate into a more liberal College of Cardinals in line with Francis’s leanings. Francis had widened representation in the College of Cardinals by appointing more from the African and Asian continents in recognition of the church’s global reach. Some of these appointments included priests with very conservative views.

Europe with largest representation

The geographic distribution of electors still sees Europe with the largest representation but this has been diluted. There are 53 cardinals from Europe, making up 39% of those who will take part and vote in the conclave. Europe has 61 other cardinals, who are not electors.

The second largest group of electors comes from Asia with 23 voting cardinals or 17%, followed by Africa with 18 cardinals, making up 13% of electors.

The geographic distribution of electors shows that no two continental blocs on their own can elect a pope. This ensures that the chosen pontiff must have global appeal.

The country with the most electors is Italy with 17 cardinals, followed by the US with 10 cardinals and Brazil with seven.

Majority aged over 71

Electors are skewed towards an older demographic with 75 cardinals, or 56% of electors, falling between the ages of 71 and 79. There are 42 cardinals aged between 61 and 70, making up 31% of electors. Cardinal Mario Grech is part of this group – he turned 68 last February.

Only two electors fall between the ages of 45 and 50. These are Cardinal Mykola Bychok from Australia, who is 45-years-old, the youngest cardinal in the conclave; and Cardinal Giorgio Marengo from Mongolia, who will be 51 in June.

The oldest elector is Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra from Spain, who will be turning 80 on 16 May, making the conclave by a whisker.

Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who is under 80 and thus entitled to vote, was excluded from the list of electors since he had been found guilty of financial misconduct and stripped of his privileges as cardinal despite being allowed to hold the title.