What's the geographic breakdown of the cardinals who will elect the new pope?

VATICAN CITY – There is nary regularisation that cardinals electing a caller pope ballot a definite mode according to their nationality oregon region. But knowing their constitution successful geographic presumption tin assistance explicate immoderate of their priorities arsenic they unfastened the conclave Wednesday to take a caller person of the 1.4-billion beardown Catholic Church.

A cardinal who heads the Vatican’s liturgy bureau mightiness person a precise antithetic acceptable of concerns than the archbishop of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A cardinal who runs a ample European archdiocese with hundreds of priests apt has different priorities than the Vatican ambassador ministering to war-torn Syria oregon the archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua whose religion has been nether siege by the government.

There are presently 135 cardinals who are nether property 80 and eligible to ballot successful the conclave, hailing from 71 antithetic countries successful the astir geographically divers conclave successful history. Already 2 person formally told the Holy See that they cannot be for wellness reasons, bringing the fig of men who volition participate the Sistine Chapel down to 133.

A two-thirds bulk is needed to beryllium elected pope, meaning that if the fig of electors holds astatine 133, the victor indispensable unafraid 89 votes.

Here is simply a determination breakdown of the afloat 135 cardinal electors, according to Vatican statistic and pursuing the Vatican’s geographic grouping.

Europe: 53 (of whom 17 are Italian, the astir of immoderate country.) One of the electors who says he's skipping the conclave is from Spain, truthful the existent fig of Europeans is expected to beryllium 52.

Asia (including Middle East): 23

Africa: 18. One of the electors who says he's skipping the conclave is from Kenya, truthful the existent fig of Africans is expected to beryllium 17.

North America: 16 (of whom 10 are American, 4 are Canadian and 2 are Mexican)

South America: 17

Central America: 4

Oceania: 4 (one each from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga)

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