Cardinals recognize right to vote of all Cardinal electors in conclave

Vatican, Italy | VATICAN NEWS | The College of Cardinals has announced that all 133 Cardinal electors participating in the upcoming conclave have the right to vote for the new Pope.

The Holy See Press Office released a declaration prepared by the Cardinals gathered in the General Congregation on Wednesday. The declaration specifies that all Cardinal electors present in the conclave have the right to vote for the new Pope.

The Cardinals note that paragraph 33 of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, which governs the conclave, allows 120 Cardinals to vote.

However, they say, the late Pope Francis dispensed with that numerical limit by creating more than 120 Cardinals under the age of 80.

Therefore, declare the Cardinals, “the Cardinals exceeding the set limit have acquired, in accordance with paragraph 36 of the same Apostolic Constitution, the right to elect the Roman Pontiff, from the moment of their creation and publication.”