RIP Pope Francis

Pope Francis has died aged 88. He was Pope for 12 years, a Cardinal for 24 years, Archbishop for 27 years and a Bishop for 32 years. He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio and was the first Jesuit Pope. He was also the first non European Pope in 1300 years.

The 115th papal conclave to elect the 267th pope will convene in the next few days with 135 cardinal electors, so 90 votes needed to elect the new Pope. The first papal conclave was in 1276.

The Dean of the College of Cardinals would normally preside over the papal conclave but Cardinal Re is 91 years and Cardinal Sandri the vice Dean is 81 years old so the presiding Cardinal may be Cardinal Prevost from Chicago.