Who are the 4 Indian Cardinals who will vote to elect new pope ?
PTC News Desk: Following the demise of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, April 21, the Catholic Church has entered a period of sede vacante.
The 88-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church was recently discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he spent five weeks receiving treatment for an infection that led to double pneumonia.
On Easter Sunday, he was able to offer the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing to the city of Rome and to the world. Only the pope can offer this blessing, which includes the offer of an indulgence, a remission for the effects of sins.
The Pope's passing has triggered the start of preparations for a conclave—a confidential gathering where cardinals will select a new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. Among those eligible to vote are four cardinals from India, including two from the state of Kerala.
Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, 72, serves as the Archbishop of Goa and Daman and the Patriarch of the East Indies. He also holds the position of President of both the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India and the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences.
Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, 64, is the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram, and leads the Synod of the Syro-Malankara Church.
Cardinal Anthony Poola, 63, the Archbishop of Hyderabad, made history by becoming the first Dalit to be elevated to the rank of cardinal.
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, 51, originally from Changanassery, serves as the Cardinal-Deacon of S. Antonio di Padova a Circonvallazione Appia and is the Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Since 2021, he has also played a key role in coordinating Pope Francis’s international visits.
During the conclave, cardinals cast their votes by placing ballots bearing the Latin phrase "I elect as Supreme Pontiff" into a silver and gold-plated urn. The voting process can occur up to four times daily and continues until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority.
- With inputs from agencies
