138 Cardinals to choose next Pope; two Keralites in College of Cardinals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Only 138 cardinals are eligible to participate in the conclave to elect the next Pope. Only cardinals under the age of 80 have the right to vote. Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos and Cardinal George Jacob Koovakkad have voting rights from Kerala. Cardinal Koovakkad is a Malayali working in the Vatican.

Although former Major Archbishop George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Church is a cardinal, he does not have voting rights as he is over 80 years old. Although there are six cardinals in India, only four have voting rights. Apart from the two from Kerala, the others are Cardinal Felipe Neri Ferrao (Archbishop of Goa) and Cardinal Antony Poola (Archbishop of Hyderabad).

According to norms, the vote to elect the next Pope will take place within 15-20 days of the Predecessor’s death. All 138 people will be taken to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican for voting.

The vote will be held only after the cardinals have completely cut off their connection with the outside world. The vote will be held until one candidate gets a two-thirds majority. The ballot paper will be burned after each vote.

If the vote fails to find a new Pope, the ballot will be lit with a substance that produces black smoke. If selected, it will be lit in a way that produces white smoke.

Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis, Catholicos of the Catholic Church, has left for the Vatican to attend the funeral of Pope Francis. He will also fulfil that mission after being part of the conclave to elect a new pope.

The Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals since 1379. It currently consists of 252 cardinals. Of these, 138 people under the age of 80 have the right to vote in the conclave. Of these, 110 were appointed by Pope Francis. The conclave will be held in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The conclave will see four rounds of voting per day. Two in the morning and two in the evening. This process will continue until one of the papal candidates receives two-thirds of the votes.

New newly elected Pope will be rechristened. He may take the name of his predecessors or saints. Then the senior cardinal deacon will appear on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and announce the new Pope to the world. The new Pope will then appear on the balcony and bless the faithful.

Who will be the new Pope?

Many names are being floated as the successor to Pope Francis. Some of them are;

1. Cardinal Pietro Parolin (70)- Italy

2. Cardinal Robert Sarah (79)- Guinea

3. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (69)- Italy

4. Cardinal Peter Turkson (76)- Ghana

5. Cardinal Peter Erdoğan (72)- Hungary

6. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (67)- Philippines