Only Cardinals Under The Age Of 80 Will Be Allowed To Vote To Replace Pope Francis – The Vatican

The Vatican has come out to announce that cardinals are set to begin the conclave to elect a new leader for 1.4 billion Catholics around the world. The date for the papal election was decided today after cardinals held the first daily congregation since Pope Francis’ funeral, and the world has been reacting.

According to the Vatican, only cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to vote in a papal election, and there are currently 135 cardinals eligible to participate in the upcoming election.

According to the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, over 180 cardinals have arrived in Rome to partake in the meeting this morning, and they all talked about the challenges facing the Catholic church today.

The cardinal electors will vote for the next Bishop of Rome in a highly secretive ballot held in the Sistine Chapel, which was closed to the public on Monday in preparation for the balloting, according to the Vatican Museum website.

The last two conclaves, held in 2005 to elect Pope Benedict XVI and in 2013 to elect Pope Francis lasted just 2 days.

WOW.

Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is, as the bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State.

Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17 December 1936 in Flores, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He was the eldest of five children of Mario José Bergoglio (1908–1959) and Regina María Sívori (1911–1981). Mario Bergoglio was an Italian immigrant accountant born in Portacomaro (Province of Asti) in Italy’s Piedmont region.

Regina Sívori was a housewife born in Buenos Aires to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.