After the death of Pope Francis, the Catholic Church is preparing to elect a new Pope. Out of the 135 cardinals who are eligible to vote, 18 are from Africa, showing the continent’s growing importance in the Church.
These cardinals are part of a group known as “cardinal electors” — only cardinals under 80 years old can vote in a papal election. While there are 252 cardinals in total around the world, only 135 meet the voting criteria.
Europe has the largest number of voting cardinals with 53. Asia follows with 23, Africa has 18, South America has 17, North America has 16, and Central America and Oceania each have 4.
The 18 African cardinals who will take part in this important decision are:
- John Njue (Kenya)
- Dieudonne Nzapalainga (Central African Republic)
- Peter Okpaleke (Nigeria)
- Nakellentuba Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso)
- Protase Rugambwa (Tanzania)
- Robert Sarah (Guinea)
- Berhaneyesus Souraphiel (Ethiopia)
- Desire Tsarahazana (Madagascar)
- Peter Turkson (Ghana)
- Jean-Paul Vesco (Algeria)
- Cristobal Romero (Morocco)
- Stephen Mulla (South Sudan)
- Fridolin Besungu (DR Congo)
- Ignace Dogbo (Ivory Coast)
- Stephen Brislin (South Africa)
- Arlindo Furtado (Cape Verde)
- Antoine Kambanda (Rwanda)
- Jean-Pierre Kutwa (Ivory Coast)
Among the 135 eligible voters, 108 were chosen by Pope Francis during his time as Pope. The remaining 22 were appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, and five were selected by Pope John Paul II.
Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, due to a stroke that led to a coma and heart failure. The Vatican officially recorded his time of death as 7:35 am local time.
The world now waits for the conclave, where these 135 cardinals, including the 18 from Africa, will gather to choose the next leader of the Catholic Church.
