2025 conclave
A conclave was held on 7 and 8 May 2025 to elect a new pope to succeed Francis, who had died on 21 April 2025. Of the 135 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. After accepting his election, he took the name Leo XIV.
Papal election process
The papal election process proper began sixteen days after the 21 April 2025 death of Pope Francis. As in the 2013 conclave, the dean and vice-dean of the College of Cardinals were both over 80 and ineligible to participate. In 2025, these were Giovanni Battista Re and Leonardo Sandri, respectively. The most senior elector under 80, Pietro Parolin, who was also Cardinal Secretary of State, presided over the 2025 conclave.Timing and procedures
According to John Paul II's 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, as amended by Benedict XVI's 2013 apostolic letter Normas nonnullas, the cardinals had at least 15 days after the Holy See became vacant to convene. The cardinals had the discretion to start the conclave earlier or up to 20 days after the pope's cathedra became vacant. On 28 April 2025, two days after Francis's funeral, the fifth general congregation of the cardinals set the conclave to begin on 7 May 2025.Cardinal electors
Cardinals aged 80 years or older on the day before the papacy fell vacant were ineligible to participate. At the time of Francis' death, there were 252 cardinals, of whom 135 were under 80 and thus were not precluded from participation and voting in the conclave. Of these potential electors, 108 had been elevated to the College of Cardinals by Francis; the cardinal electors were also global and more diverse than in any prior conclave — they came from more than 70 countries and in many cases were the first cardinal ever appointed from their country.Since the 1975 promulgation of Romano Pontifici eligendo by Pope Paul VI and the 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis by Pope John Paul II, the maximum number of cardinal electors had been 'set' at 120. At 133, the 2025 conclave was the largest ever, and the first conclave where this purported limit was exceeded on the day the papacy became vacant. Any cardinal under the age of 80 not having renounced or lost his voting rights has the right to vote in a conclave under Catholic canon law. A pope appointing more than 120 eligible cardinal electors effectively renders the 1975 limit inapplicable, as popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis all did; although in the cases of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the 120 limit at the conclave was not surpassed.
On 30 April 2025, the general congregation of cardinals confirmed that all cardinal electors present for the conclave beginning on 7 May could vote. Ineligible cardinals could nevertheless attend the general congregations and participate in discussions preceding the conclave. Although the conclave cardinals have the authority to elect any Catholic male who has been baptized, the last time a non-cardinal was elected was in the 1378 conclave.
Non-participating
After saying he would try to participate in the conclave, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who had "renounced his rights as a cardinal" in 2020 due to his involvement in a financial scandal, stated that he would abide by Francis's wish that he refrain from participating. Health problems prevented cardinals Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Spain and John Njue of Kenya from participating in the conclave, reducing the number of potential electors to 133; accordingly, the two-thirds supermajority required to elect the new pope was determined at 89 votes. This was the largest number of cardinal electors ever to participate and vote in a conclave.Speculation
Francis's hospitalization in February and March 2025 fueled speculation about an impending conclave. Due to the major international expansion of the membership of the College of Cardinals under Francis to 252, with over 140 non-European cardinals appointed during his pontificate, some observers had suggested a non-European pope was likely. The 2025 conclave was initially planned to have 135 electors from 71 countries; the 2013 and 2005 conclaves had had 115 electors from 48 and 52 countries respectively. Some of the participating cardinals did not speak Italian, the working language of the Roman Curia.Following the Italian saying "fat pope, thin pope", some commentators predicted that Francis's successor would be more conservative. There were also concerns of interference, which had been prohibited in 1996 by John Paul II, and a potential hostile takeover by ultraconservative politicians and Catholics. As of the third and fourth general congregations, there was reportedly a desire among the cardinals for a ten-year pope, someone in his late seventies with experience in the Roman Curia who would be more focused on internal affairs.
Some commentators posited a younger pope as more likely; others felt that cardinals like Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Robert Prevost were too young. Many cardinals expressed hope for a short conclave, as in 2005 and 2013. Given the complexities and heterogeneity of this conclave, compared to the two-day one that elected Francis in 2013, Cardinal Rainer Woelki expected the 2025 conclave to take longer; the Cardinals Louis Raphaël I Sako and Gregorio Rosa Chávez anticipated a short conclave of two or three days, with the latter remarking "maximum three days".
''Papabili''
s consider some cardinals to be more likely to become pope than othersthese are the papabili, Italian for "pope-able". In practice, however, conclaves have not always chosen one of the papabili. Prior to his election in the October 1978 conclave, John Paul II was not considered to be in the running. This is reflected in the saying "He who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal," although the frontrunner is often elected pope, as was the case in 1939, 1963, and 2005. Anna Rowlands, a Vaticanologist, suggested that attempts to predict the conclave's outcome were based in "pure speculation". Media worldwide released papabili analyses on the day of Pope Francis's death. Papabili mentioned in the media included Anders Arborelius, Jean-Marc Aveline, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Timothy Dolan, Wim Eijk, Péter Erdő, Fernando Filoni, William Goh, Mario Grech, Claudio Gugerotti, Pietro Parolin, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Malcolm Ranjith, Robert Sarah, Marcello Semeraro, Luis Antonio Tagle, José Tolentino de Mendonça, Peter Turkson, Lazarus You Heung-sik, and Matteo Zuppi.Robert Prevost, the eventual elected pope, was speculated on as papabile, being the prefect of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, an ally of Francis, and a possible compromise candidate; however, he was considered a dark horse, and his American nationality had been regarded as a potential stumbling block to his candidacy, reflecting unease about enhancing the United States's geopolitical power after the re-election of Donald Trump in 2024. Supporters argued that Prevost represented a "dignified middle of the road". Some commentators felt that a non-European pope was likely due to the increased numbers of African and Asian cardinals, which reportedly ultimately collapsed Parolin's candidacy. By contrast, others felt that a European pope was a more likely outcome, remaining convinced that the reasons for why an American pope had never been elected before, namely the American status as superpower, still applied. James Bretzke, a theology professor at John Carroll University in Ohio, told USA Today that the best possible candidate was one who could be a diplomat, adding: "America's image in the world simply is too powerfuland to be blunt, ugly."
Betting
Before the announcement of the conclave itself, prediction markets were using market mechanisms to calculate who might be in the running and their putative rankings. Upon Francis's death, the top five contenders were Tagle, Parolin, Zuppi, Ambongo, and Erdő, all of whom had been cited by Vatican journalists and analysts as papabili. On the day of Prevost's election, the leading candidates on Polymarket were Parolin at 37%, Tagle at 26%, Pizzaballa at 10%, Erdő at 8%, Turkson at 7%, Sarah at 4%, and Zuppi at 3%. Parolin's odds to be named as the new pope jumped to nearly 70% after the white smoke was revealed, with many suspecting that the relatively short four-round conclave indicated a consensus candidate had been chosen.Fantapapa was a fantasy league based in Italy for betting nominal sums on papal conclaves. Established by anti-gambling advocates Pietro Pace and Mauro Vanetti specifically for the 2025 conclave, the sole payout was "eternal glory". By 5 May 2025, it had 75,000 players in Italy, where no licensed platform offers gambling on conclaves. Fantapapa players chose from and ranked eleven cardinals; other aspects of the conclave, such as the papal name, language, number of rounds, and the day on which white smoke appears, were also available to bet on. Players gained points in accordance to their team members being "mentioned prominently" in domestic and international media coverage. The fantasy league was open to punters internationally and also offered mini-lessons in the Italian language.
Pre-conclave events
Logistical preparations
Following the death of Pope Francis, preparations began at Domus Sanctae Marthae for housing the cardinal electors. These included setting up barriers or opaque film at the windows to prevent outside contact and the construction of spaces for the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance, private prayer, and meals. Signal jammers were used to isolate the electors from Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and mobile networks. Because the building has only 129 bedrooms, it was necessary to provide accommodations for the 133 electors and support personnel, who stayed at Santa Marta Vecchia, next door to the main dormitory.In the Sistine Chapel, preparations included the addition of tables and chairs in the manner of choir stalls and the covering of windows; the ballot-burning stove and the chimney, which together serve to signal the results to the outside world, were installed, as was a temporary wooden floor which served to protect the marble inlay, provide a more level surface, and hide electronic signal jammers. Both the Domus Sanctae Marthae and the Sistine Chapel were thoroughly inspected in advance of the conclave for any unauthorized devices. On 2 May, Vatican firefighters installed the chimney for the Sistine Chapel.
The Vatican Gendarmerie, under the leadership of Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti, faced many counter-espionage challenges in protecting conclave integrity. The Corps of Gendarmerie used the 650 security cameras in the Vatican, encrypted messaging, and endpoint detection and response to secure the conclave. Meals for the 2025 conclave featured simple dishes typical of Lazio and Abruzzo, the regions of Italy nearest the Vatican.