Cardinals confirm: more than 120 electors will take part in conclave

May 01, 2025

In a statement issued on April 30, the Congregation of Cardinals discussed two procedural matters.

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First, Universi Dominici Gregis, St. John Paul II’s apostolic constitution on the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of the Roman Pontiff, states that “the maximum number of Cardinal electors must not exceed 120” (n. 33). Pope Francis, like St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, created a number of potential cardinal electors greater than 120; however, because of aging, deaths, and illnesses, only 115 cardinal electors took part in the conclaves of 2005 and 2013.

In their statement, the cardinals confirmed that more than 120 electors will participate in the 2025 conclave:

Regarding the Cardinal electors, the Congregation has revealed that His Holiness Francis, by creating a number of Cardinals higher than the 120 stipulated by no. 33 of the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis of Saint John Paul II, of 22 February 1996, in the exercise of his supreme power, has dispensed with this legislative provision, whereby the Cardinals exceeding the set limit have acquired, in accordance with No. 36 of the same Apostolic Constitution, the right to elect the Roman Pontiff, from the moment of their creation and publication.

133 of the 135 potential cardinal electors will participate; two will not take part because of illness.

The second part of the statement concerned Cardinal Angelo Becciu (see Phil Lawler commentary):

Regarding His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, it was noted that the latter, having the good of the Church at heart, and to contribute to the communion and serenity of the Conclave, has communicated his decision not to take part in it. In this regard, the Congregation of Cardinals expresses its appreciation for the gesture he has made, and hopes that the competent judicial bodies will be able to definitively ascertain the facts.

The Holy See Press Office did not specify whether the Congregation of Cardinals that issued the statement was the general congregation of cardinals meeting in Rome, or the particular congregation, composed of the camerlengo (Cardinal Kevin Farrell) and the three cardinal assistants chosen by lot every three days. It was presumably the general congregation, as the apostolic constitution entrusts more important matters to the general congregation and quotidian affairs to the four-member particular congregation.

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