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.

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.

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.

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 (80%) 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.

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.

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.