Cardinals arrive in Rome for informal meeting ahead of conclave on 7 May

Cardinals arriving for the first day of informal meetings after Pope Francis’ funeral were swarmed at the city-state’s gates by journalists eager for hints of whether any consensus was building around the election of a successor ahead of the conclave on 7 May.

"There is the hope of unity,'' said Argentine Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, the 66-year-old archbishop of Cordoba, Argentina, who was made a cardinal by Francis in 2023. 

Many cardinals cited the desire to continue Francis’ pastoral focus on people who are marginalized and against war. But conservatives in the ranks may be more focused on forging unity and refocusing the church back to core doctrines emphasized by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, rather than continue Francis' social justice focus and outreach to women and gays.

The College of Cardinals that will elect a new pope includes members from far-flung corners of the globe whom Francis named over his 12-year papacy to bring in new points of views of the Catholic Church hierarchy.

Many have spent little or no time in Rome getting to know their colleagues, injecting some uncertainty into a process that requires two-thirds of the 135 voting-age cardinals to coalesce behind a single candidate. 

Only cardinals under 80 are eligible to vote, and it is not clear how many of the 135 will participate.