There are currently 135 cardinals with the right to vote and who will be able to enter the Conclave to choose the new Pope, after the death of Bergoglio : the only thing hanging in the balance is the position of the Spanish cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, who will turn 80 on May 16. And the names of the possible "papabili" have been circulating for some time: from the Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the Archbishop of Bologna Matteo M. Zuppi , from the Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa to the Hungarian Peter Erdo , from the Frenchman Jean-Marc Aveline to the Dutchman Willem J. Eijk , up to the Filipino Luis Tagle to represent the Asian Church or the Congolese Fridolin Ambongo Besungu to embody the African eventuality or, again, the Brazilian Leonardo Ulrich Steiner , Archbishop of Manaus, for the Latin Americans.

This is the “geography” of the Conclave : 59 cardinals will come from Europe (19 from Italy), 37 from the Americas (16 from North America, four from Central America, 17 from South America), 20 cardinals from Asia, 16 from Africa, three from Oceania.

As for the representation of religious orders, there are 34 in total : five Salesians, four Jesuits (Bergoglio's order), a Capuchin friar, four Franciscans, three Conventual Franciscans, two Dominicans, two Vincentians, two Redemptorists, two Verbites, and then the others, up to the Consolata Missionary Giorgio Marengo.

Finally, the ages: the youngest of the Conclave will be the Ukrainian Mykola Byčok, who turned 45 on February 13. The oldest, in fact, will be the Spaniard Carlos Osoro Sierra, followed by only one month by the Guinean Robert Sarah.

GOODBYE POPE FRANCIS: ALL THE NEWS

(Online Union)

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