By CNA Staff
CNA Newsroom, May 1, 2025 / 17:46 pm
The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.
Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:
With the conclave just days away, attention turns to the strict protocols governing the secretive process of electing the next pope.
EWTN News Vice President Dr. Matthew Bunson joins “EWTN News Nightly” from Rome to explain how secrecy is maintained during the conclave, whether any of the cardinals will have downtime during this period, how the voting process unfolds, and how many votes are required for a new pontiff to be chosen.
He also reflects on the unique overlap of Italy’s Labor Day and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker:
Not only did Pope Francis value and promote the dignity of labor, he was someone who personally worked extremely hard, finding joy and rest in work itself, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said at the sixth Novendiales Mass.
“What I want to show, however, is to what extent [Pope Francis] understood that his work was his mission, his everyday work was his response to God’s love, it was an expression of his concern for the good of others,” Fernández said in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 1.
Drawing on the best of the Francis papacy, the next pope needs to be an Evangelii Gaudium pope more than a synodality pope, writes Terence Sweeney in his commentary at the National Catholic Register.
As the Catholic Church continues through a period of interregnum between the reign of popes, Chinese authorities have made moves to assert the Church in China’s autonomy from Rome by unilaterally “electing” two bishops — including in a diocese already led by a Vatican-appointed bishop.
Read more about the controversial moves here.
Members of the College of Cardinals have gathered in Rome in anticipation of the subsequent election of Pope Francis’ successor.
There are currently 252 cardinals, 133 of whom are eligible and expected to vote in the conclave. They range in age from 45 to 99.
But who are they? Read the whole story here.
At a time when some postulate that Europe might soon become irrelevant because of the increasing prominence of the Global South — where the Church is growing fastest — it remains, as its institutional and theological center of gravity, a key player in the conclave outcome.
With currently 53 of the 135 voting cardinals coming from Europe — a third of whom are Italians — their collective priorities and concerns will influence not only the choice of the next pope but also the direction of the Church in a rapidly changing world.
It is becoming clear, however, that the European bloc is no longer unified, writes Solène Tadié in the National Catholic Register.
The qualities of a pope go far beyond merely being a kind of CEO of the Catholic Church.
Inevitably, at a minimum, he should possess a strong faith and humility, be willing to adhere to the Church’s teachings and apostolic tradition, and personify the pope’s ancient title as “servus servorum Dei,” the servant of the servants of God.
But he should also possess other exceptional qualities, according to Edward Pentin at the National Catholic Register.
As we prepare for the start of the conclave on May 7, here are several places to be familiar with.1. Casa Santa MartaSaint John Paul II designated the Domus Sanctae Marthae as the residence of the cardinal electors during conclaves.2. Sistine ChapelIt is the seat of the… pic.twitter.com/PJqZaBBCZQ
Cardinal Gerhard Müller calls for a deeper, faith-driven approach to overcome factionalism as cardinals prepare for the upcoming papal conclave, reports CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
The cardinal warns against any “friend and foe thinking” that categorizes people as “for me” or “against me,” calling such division particularly “harmful for the Church, which by its nature is meant to be the sign, the instrument” of communion with God and among people.
Müller, who served as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 to 2017, offers a profound perspective on the concept of “periphery” popularized by Pope Francis.
Warning of an ideological contrast of “center versus periphery,” Müller tells EWTN Germany that the world is a sphere where every person stands equidistant from its core — and that the Eucharist, whether celebrated in the Amazon or St. Peter’s Basilica, remains the same sacred rite, uniting believers worldwide in a shared faith.
As the conclave approaches, speculation grows about who will succeed Pope Francis as the next pope.
One potential candidate is Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. A group of young Christians from Palestine, led by Father Firas Abedrabbo, former personal secretary to Pizzaballa, is in Rome originally for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis but instead found themselves present for the pope’s funeral, advocating for Pizzaballa’s election to the papacy.
EWTN Vatican journalist Valentina Di Donato reports from Rome:
The 2025 Conclave: All the cardinal electors from A to Z. Let's pray for them. pic.twitter.com/evOGuKSmGA
