The conclave's cardinals in numbers
One hundred
and thirty-three cardinals, with an average age of 70, mostly chosen by the
late Pope Francis, are set to vote for his successor at the conclave beginning
on Wednesday.
While many of them will as usual be from Europe, and particularly Italy, they will this time be less in number.
During his pontificate, Francis made a point of appointing more cardinals from the "peripheries" of the Catholic world.
Of the 252 cardinals, who form the top echelon of the Catholic Church, only those aged under 80 vote for a new pope in the conclave. So 117 of them will not be present in the Sistine Chapel.
Two others, aged under 80, have declined for health reasons: John Njue from Kenya and Antonio Canizares Llovera from Spain.
Europe will continue to be the best-represented region with 52, or 39 percent of the cardinal electors. That is down on 2013, when Europeans formed more than half -- 52 percent, or 60 out of 115 of the cardinals at the conclave which chose Pope Francis.
Asia comes second with 23 cardinals, followed by Central and Latin America (21), Africa (17), North America (16) and Oceania (four), according to the Holy See.
Italy will still have the most representatives at 17. However that is down on the 28 the home of the Vatican had in 2013.
Next come the United States with 10 and Brazil with seven. France will have five.
The late Pope Francis's home country, Argentina, will send four cardinals, as will Spain, Canada, India, Poland and Portugal.
In Africa, Ivory Coast, with two cardinal electors, will be the only country on the continent to have more than one at the conclave.
In addition to the 69 countries to send a cardinal, Jerusalem will be represented by Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Italian patriarch of the city where Jesus Christ died.
The average age at the conclave will be 70 years and three months.
The oldest is currently Carlos Osoro Sierra, who was appointed archbishop of Madrid, Spain, in 2014 by Pope Francis. He will turn 80 on May 16.
The youngest is the Archbishop of Melbourne, Australia, Mykola Bychok, who turned 45 in February.
Out of the 133 cardinals who will attend the conclave, 108 were chosen by Pope Francis: 40 from Europe, 20 from Asia, 19 from Central and Latin America, 15 from Africa, 10 from North America and four from Oceania.
His predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II chose 20 and five respectively.
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