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8 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 APRIL 2025 ANALYSIS The cardinals choosing the next pope There are 252 cardinals but only 135 have the right to elect the head of the Catholic church. Kurt Sansone takes a look at the statistics to understand 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 al- most two centuries to get to choose the next pope. The last one to do so was Fabrizio Sce- berras Testaferrata, who was made cardinal in 1818. Cardinals who reach the age of 80 cannot vote, which ex- plains why only 135 of the 252 living cardinals will be choos- ing 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 indi- vidual. And although histor- ically cardinals have always chosen a pope from among themselves, anyone can be- come 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 ap- pointed by Pope Francis dur- ing 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 con- clave – 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 recog- nition of the church's global reach. Some of these appoint- ments included priests with very conservative views. Europe with largest representation The geographic distribution of electors still sees Europe with the largest representa- tion 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 cardi- nals, 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, mak- ing up 31% of electors. Cardi- nal Mario Grech is part of this group – he turned 68 last Feb- ruary. Only two electors fall be- tween 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 Cardi- nal Carlos Osoro Sierra from Spain, who will be turning 80 on 16 May, making the con- clave by a whisker. Italian Cardinal Angelo Bec- ciu, 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. 0 10 20 30 40 50 Cardinals by pontificate John Paul II Benedict XVI Francis 5 22 108 Cardinals by age 45-50 51-60 61-70 71-79 2 16 42 75 The Catholic church has 252 cardinals but only 135 cardinals have the right to elect a pope. The above data provides a breakdown for the 135 electors. Source: Holy See 0 10 20 30 40 50 Cardinals by pontificate John Paul II Benedict XVI Francis 5 22 108 Cardinals by age 45-50 51-60 61-70 71-79 2 16 42 75 The Catholic church has 252 cardinals but only 135 cardinals have the right to elect a pope. The above data provides a breakdown for the 135 electors. Source: Holy See