There is no rule that forces cardinals who choose a new Pope to vote in a certain way according to their nationality or region. But understanding its geographical composition can help explain some of its priorities when inaugurating the conclave on Wednesday to choose the new leader of the Catholic Church, with 1.4 billion faithful.
A cardinal who directs the Vatican Liturgy Office could have very different concerns from those of the Archbishop of Ulán Bator, Mongolia. A cardinal who directs a great European archdiocese with hundreds of priests probably has other priorities than those of the Vatican ambassador who attends in Syria, devastated by the war, or the archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua, whose church has been besieged by the government.
There are currently 135 Cardinals under 80 years with the right to vote in the conclavefrom 71 countries different, in the conclave with greater geographical diversity in history. Two of them have already formally communicated to the Holy See that cannot attend health reasons, which reduces the number of men who will enter the Sistine Chapel to 133.
To be chosen Pope is needed a two -thirds majority, which means that if the number of voters remains in 133, the winner must obtain 89 votes.
The countries with more voters are: Italy (17), United States (10), Brazil (7), France and Spain (5), Argentina, Canada, India, Poland and Portugal (4).
Europa It remains the continent with greater representation, with 53 Cardinals enabled to vote. However, one of the European voters, a native of Spain, has already announced that it will not participate in the conclave, so it is expected that there are finally 52 Europeans present in the Sistine Chapel.
From Asia, including Middle Eastthey will arrive 23 Cardinalsa figure that reflects the growing importance of this region in global ecclesial life. Africafor its part, it will have 18 Representativesalthough one of them, from Kenya, also anticipated that he will not attend, reducing the number of African voters to 17.
South America will say present with 17 Cardinalsamong them several with outstanding trajectories in their communities. North America will contribute 16 voters: 10 from the United States, 4 of Canada and 2 from Mexicoshowing a strong presence of the northern hemisphere in this key election.
Central America will have a more limited participation, with 4 cardinals in totalwhile from the confines of the planet, Oceania will be represented by others 4: one from Australia, one from New Zealand, one from Papua New Guinea and one from Tonga.
(With AP information)
