 "Pope Francis still critical: Who are 4 Indian cardinals who will vote for the next pope?")
Pope Francis is currently undergoing treatment at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
He was admitted to the hospital on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.
While the Vatican on Monday said the Pope showed slight improvement, doctors have said his condition remains critical, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease, according to The Associated Press.
This has led to intensified discussions about the Church’s future leadership and preparations for a potential papal conclave.
If a conclave is convened, 138 cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to vote, including four from India.
Let’s take a closer look.
The Papal Conclave
The only time papal power changes hands is when a pope dies or resigns.
The camerlengo or chamberlain will organise the papal conclave in the Sistine Chapel, following centuries-old traditions. The position is currently held by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the head of the Vatican’s laity office.
All voting cardinals must first take an oath of secrecy before being cut off from the outside world.
According to Catholic Church laws, cardinals under the age of 80 are the only ones who can vote in the papal conclave. Of the 252 cardinals, 138 are under 80 and eligible to participate in the upcoming conclave, according to the College of Cardinals Report website.
In rounds of deliberation and voting, each cardinal writes the name of their preferred candidate on a ballot.
The ballots are folded and put in a chalice with Michelangelo’s Last Judgement fresco underneath.
Three cardinals are chosen to record and count the votes.
Four rounds of voting take place each day until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority.
The ballots are burnt with chemicals on a special stove within the chapel if no candidate earned the necessary number of votes. Black smoke rises from the chimney, indicating that voting will continue.
White smoke is released upon the election of a pope, and the famous Latin phrase “Habemus Papam,” which translates to “We have a Pope,” is used to proclaim the new pope.
Also read: Pope Francis survived two assassination attempts in 2021. Here's what we know
Indian cardinals that will vote
There are six cardinals in India, but Cardinals George Alencherry, 79, and Oswald Gracias, 80, will soon be too old to cast ballots. After April 19, 2025, Alencherry will no longer be able to vote.
The four cardinals who will cast their votes in the next papal conclave are all from different backgrounds and play important roles in the Catholic Church.
According to News18, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, 72, is the seventh patriarch of the East Indies and the archbishop of Goa and Daman.
He has prioritised social justice, especially concerning migration and climate change, family ministry, and interreligious dialogue.
On October 28, 1979, he received his priesthood ordination; on April 10, 1994, he received his episcopal ordination; and on August 27, 2022, he was promoted to the College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Cleemis Baselios, 64, who was born Isaac Thottumkal, is the Major Archbishop of Trivandrum and the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
He was promoted to the College of Cardinals on November 24, 2012, after being called to the priesthood on June 11, 1986, and the Episcopate on August 15, 2001.
Cardinal Anthony Poola, 63, is India’s first Dalit Cardinal. He is committed to assisting underprivileged children.
His promotion to the College of Cardinals has been seen as a step towards resolving caste-based injustices.
Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, 51, is a skilled Vatican diplomat and a Syro Malabar archbishop from Kerala. He had organised Pope Francis’s foreign trips before being appointed as prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue in January 2025.
He received his priesthood ordination on July 24, 2004; his episcopal ordination on November 24, 2024; and on December 7, 2024, he was promoted to the College of Cardinals.
In the 2013 papal election, Indian cardinals Telesphore Toppo (Archbishop of Patna), Oswald Gracias (Archbishop of Mumbai), Mar George Alencherry and Mar Baselios Cheemis, the leaders of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches, and Ivan Dias (Roman Curia), the former Archbishop of Mumbai, had all voted to appoint Pope Francis.
Pope Francis’s health condition
The Pope was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome on February 14 after what medical professionals described as an increasingly complex health issue, as per AP.
According to the Vatican, he had pneumonia in both lungs.
As per the Vatican’s evening bulletin, Pope Francis remained in critical condition but showed a slight improvement in laboratory tests. It said that he hadn’t had any more respiratory crises since Saturday, and the supplemental oxygen he is using continued but with a slightly reduced oxygen flow and concentrations.
The slight kidney insufficiency detected on Sunday was not causing alarm at the moment, doctors said, while saying his prognosis remained guarded.
Francis was in good spirits, was not in pain and was not receiving artificial nutrition, the Vatican said.
With inputs from agencies
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