Election of new Pope to begin on May 7

The conclave to elect a new Pope will begin on Wednesday, May 7. The Holy See press service reported this on April 28.

The cardinals present in Rome made the decision on Monday at their fifth General Congregation. The conclave will take place in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, which remains closed to visitors these days.

The date of the conclave was decided during a closed meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals in the Vatican, the first since the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.

About 135 cardinals under the age of 80 from different countries of the world will take part in the vote. They are to elect the new head of the Church, which unites more than 1.4 billion Catholics.

The previous two conclaves, held in 2005 and 2013, lasted two days.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Sistine Chapel was closed to visitors due to the upcoming election of a new Pope.

It was also reported that the death of Pope Francis was not related to the bilateral pneumonia with which the Pontiff was hospitalized in mid-February 2025.

Pope Francis I ordered that his tomb be arranged "in the ground" and "without special decorations".

Pope Francis changed a long-standing tradition by simplifying the papal funeral rite. In accordance with his last will, the Pontiff expressed his desire to be buried in a simple wooden coffin, not in the Vatican, but in the Roman Basilica of St. Mary Major - next to his beloved icon of the Madonna.