4 Indian cardinals eligible to vote for new pope

Four Indian cardinals—Ferrao, Cleemis, Koovakkad, and Poola—are eligible to vote in the conclave to elect the next pope.

The death of Pope Francis has set in motion a long process in which cardinals from around the world, including India, will gather in Vatican City for his funeral and subsequently hold the closed-door papal conclave within the Sistine Chapel to elect the new leader of the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Peter Comensoli (C) holds mass as a photo of the late Pope Francis is displayed at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne on April 22, 2025. Pope Francis died of a stroke, the Vatican announced hours after the death on April 21 of the 88-year-old reformer who inspired devotion but riled traditionalists during 12 years leading the Catholic Church. (AFP)

Four of the six cardinals of the Catholic church in India are eligible to vote in the conclave.

They are: Filipe Neri Ferrao, the Archbishop of Goa and Damman; Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Kerala; George Koovakkad, former head of the Journeys Office of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, and Anthony Poola, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Hyderabad and the first archbishop from the Dalit Christian community.

The two other Indian cardinals, Oswald Gracias, the former Archbishop of Bombay and Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Church, cannot vote in the papal conclave as they have crossed the age limit of 80 years.

Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in 1936, the first pontiff from Latin America, died on Monday morning in Vatican City at the age of 88 following a bout of chronic lung disease that left him hospitalised for 38 days and extremely physically weak.

Yet, on Easter Sunday, the Pope braving his illness, made a public appearance from the same gallery where he was introduced in March 2013 as the leader of the Catholic Church , which has around 1.3 billion followers worldwide.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, one of the eligible electors, said Francis would be remembered as a Pope of the people.

“My assessment was always that he would die with the people. And that’s exactly what happened. Yesterday, on Easter, he met thousands of people at St Peter’s Square.

“And this morning, he has gone home, ” the cardinal told reporters on Monday.

Cardinal Ferrao said the deceased Pope had a special love for India and ‘longed’ to visit the country. He recalled that the Pope canonised five saints from India during his tenure.

They are: St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara and St. Euphrasia Eluvathingal on 23rd November 2014; St. Joseph Vaz on 14th January 2015; St. Mariam Thresia Chiramel on 13th October 2019 and St. Devasahayam Pillai on 15th May 2022.

Cardinal Alencherry, who had participated in the 2013 conclave to elect Pope Francis, told reporters on Monday evening that he would be leaving for the Vatican shortly to take part in the funeral.

“Pope Francis was one who used not only his brain but also his heart to communicate with the people. He used the papal position as a mode of service for the cause of the poor, marginalised, orphans and refugees.

By taking his papal name from St Francis of Assissi, he adopted the ideals of tackling poverty, loving nature and promoting brotherhood as part of his motto,” said Cardinal Alencherry.