Cardinal electors for the 2005 papal conclave


The papal conclave of 2005 was convened to elect a pope, the head of the Catholic Church, to succeed Pope John Paul II following his death on. According to the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, which governed the vacancy of the Holy See, only cardinals who had not passed their 80th birthday on the day on which the Holy See fell vacant were eligible to participate in the conclave. Although not a formal requirement, the cardinal electors invariably elect the pope from among their number. The election is carried out by secret ballot.
Of the 183 members of the College of Cardinals at the time of the vacancy of the Holy See, there were 117 cardinal electors who were eligible to participate in the subsequent conclave. Two cardinal electors did not participate, decreasing the number in attendance to 115. The number of votes required to be elected pope with a two-thirds supermajority or with a one-half simple majority were or, respectively.
Of the 115 attending cardinal electors, 5 were cardinal bishops, 93 were cardinal priests and 17 were cardinal deacons; 2 had been created cardinals by Pope Paul VI and 113 by Pope John Paul II; 24 worked in the service of the Holy See, such as in the Roman Curia, 73 were in charge of pastoral duties outside of Rome and 18 had retired. The oldest cardinal elector in the conclave was Marco Cé, at the age of, while the youngest cardinal elector was Péter Erdő, at the age of. Another 66 cardinals were ineligible to participate in the conclave, for reasons of age.
The cardinal electors entered the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave on. On, after four ballots over two days, they elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who took the papal name Benedict XVI.

Cardinal electors

The College of Cardinals is divided into three orders: cardinal bishops , cardinal priests and cardinal deacons , with precedence in that sequence. This is the order in which the cardinal electors process into the conclave, take the oath and cast their ballots, generally reflecting seniority and honour. For cardinal bishops, except for those who are Eastern Catholic patriarchs, the dean is first in precedence, followed by the vice-dean and then by the rest in order of appointment as cardinal bishops. For cardinal bishops who are Eastern Catholic patriarchs, for cardinal priests and for cardinal deacons, precedence is determined by the date of the consistory in which they were created cardinals and then by the order in which they appeared in the official announcement or bulletin.
Three of the cardinal electors were from the Eastern Catholic Churches: Ignace Moussa I Daoud, Varkey Vithayathil and Lubomyr Husar. In addition, the senior cardinal bishop, the senior cardinal priest, the senior cardinal deacon and the junior cardinal deacon were assigned specific roles in the conclave, such as presiding over the conclave itself or announcing the election of the pope. These were, respectively, Joseph Ratzinger, William Wakefield Baum, Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez and Attilio Nicora. The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who was in charge of administering the Holy See during its vacancy, was Eduardo Martínez Somalo.
The data below are as of, the date on which the Holy See fell vacant. By default, the cardinals are sorted by precedence within each table, as denoted by the column. All cardinals are of the Latin Church unless otherwise stated. Cardinals belonging to institutes of consecrated life or to societies of apostolic life are indicated by the respective post-nominal letters.
NameCountryBornOrderConsistoryOffice
1Joseph Ratzinger*16.04.1927
CB27.06.1977
Paul VI
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
2Angelo Sodano23.11.1927
CB28.06.1991
John Paul II
Secretary of State
3Alfonso López Trujillo08.11.1935
CB02.02.1983
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for the Family
4Giovanni Battista Re30.01.1934
CB21.02.2001
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
5Ignace Moussa I Daoud18.09.1930
CB21.02.2001
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
6William Wakefield Baum21.11.1926
CP24.05.1976
Paul VI
Major Penitentiary emeritus
7Marco Cé08.07.1925
CP30.06.1979
John Paul II
Patriarch emeritus of Venice
8Franciszek Macharski20.05.1927
CP30.06.1979
John Paul II
Archbishop of Kraków
9Michael Michai Kitbunchu25.01.1929
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop of Bangkok
10Godfried Danneels04.06.1933
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop of Mechelen–Brussels
11Thomas Stafford Williams20.03.1930
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Wellington
12Carlo Maria Martini 15.02.1927
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Milan
13Jean-Marie Lustiger17.09.1926
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Paris
14Józef Glemp18.12.1929
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop of Warsaw
15Joachim Meisner25.12.1933
CP02.02.1983
John Paul II
Archbishop of Cologne
16Francis Arinze01.11.1932
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
17Miguel Obando Bravo 02.02.1926
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Managua
18Ricardo Jamin Vidal06.02.1931
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Archbishop of Cebu
19Paul Poupard30.08.1930
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
20Friedrich Wetter20.02.1928
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Archbishop of Munich and Freising
21Adrianus Johannes Simonis26.11.1931
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Archbishop of Utrecht
22Bernard Francis Law04.11.1931
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major
23Giacomo Biffi13.06.1928
CP25.05.1985
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Bologna
24Eduardo Martínez Somalo31.03.1927
CP28.06.1988
John Paul II
Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
25José Freire Falcão23.10.1925
CP28.06.1988
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Brasília
26Michele Giordano22.09.1930
CP28.06.1988
John Paul II
Archbishop of Naples
27Edmund Casimir Szoka14.09.1927
CP28.06.1988
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State
28László Paskai 08.05.1927
CP28.06.1988
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Esztergom–Budapest
29Christian Wiyghan Tumi15.10.1930
CP28.06.1988
John Paul II
Archbishop of Douala
30Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi 03.12.1930
CP28.06.1991
John Paul II
Archbishop of Kinshasa
31Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez31.10.1936
CP28.06.1991
John Paul II
Archbishop of Santo Domingo
32Roger Michael Mahony27.02.1936
CP28.06.1991
John Paul II
Archbishop of Los Angeles
33Camillo Ruini19.02.1931
CP28.06.1991
John Paul II
Vicar General for Rome and Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint John Lateran
34Henri Schwery14.06.1932
CP28.06.1991
John Paul II
Bishop emeritus of Sion
35Georg Maximilian Sterzinsky09.02.1936
CP28.06.1991
John Paul II
Archbishop of Berlin
36Miloslav Vlk17.05.1932
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Prague
37Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi17.06.1928
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Tokyo
38Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja 20.12.1934
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Jakarta
39Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino18.10.1936
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of San Cristóbal de la Habana
40Emmanuel Wamala15.12.1926
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Kampala
41William Henry Keeler04.03.1931
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Baltimore
42Jean-Claude Turcotte26.06.1936
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Montreal
43Ricardo María Carles Gordó24.09.1926
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Barcelona
44Adam Joseph Maida18.03.1930
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Detroit
45Vinko Puljić08.09.1945
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Vrhbosna
46Armand Gaetan Razafindratandra07.08.1925
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Antananarivo
47Juan Sandoval Íñiguez28.03.1933
CP26.11.1994
John Paul II
Archbishop of Guadalajara
48Salvatore De Giorgi06.09.1930
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Palermo
49Antonio María Rouco Varela20.08.1936
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Madrid
50Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic27.01.1930
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Toronto
51Dionigi Tettamanzi14.03.1934
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Milan
52Polycarp Pengo05.08.1944
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam
53Christoph Schönborn 22.01.1945
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Vienna
54Norberto Rivera Carrera06.06.1942
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Mexico
55Francis Eugene George 16.01.1937
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Chicago
56Marian Jaworski21.08.1926
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Lviv
57Jānis Pujats14.11.1930
CP21.02.1998
John Paul II
Archbishop of Riga
58Ivan Dias14.04.1936
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Bombay
59Geraldo Majella Agnelo19.10.1933
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia
60Pedro Rubiano Sáenz13.09.1932
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Bogotá
61Theodore Edgar McCarrick07.07.1930
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Washington
62Desmond Connell24.03.1926
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Dublin
63Audrys Juozas Bačkis01.02.1937
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Vilnius
64Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa 05.09.1933
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Santiago de Chile
65Julio Terrazas Sandoval 07.03.1936
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra
66Wilfrid Fox Napier 08.03.1941
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Durban
67Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga 29.12.1942
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Tegucigalpa
68Bernard Agré02.03.1926
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Abidjan
69Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne28.12.1943
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Lima
70Francisco Álvarez Martínez14.07.1925
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop emeritus of Toledo
71Cláudio Hummes 08.08.1934
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of São Paulo
72Varkey Vithayathil 29.05.1927
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Major Archbishop of Ernakulam–Angamaly
73Jorge Mario Bergoglio 17.12.1936
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Buenos Aires
74José da Cruz Policarpo26.02.1936
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Patriarch of Lisbon
75Severino Poletto18.03.1933
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Turin
76Cormac Murphy-O'Connor24.08.1932
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of Westminster
77Edward Michael Egan02.04.1932
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Archbishop of New York
78Lubomyr Husar 26.02.1933
CP21.02.2001
John Paul II
Major Archbishop of Kiev–Galicia
79Karl Lehmann16.05.1936
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Bishop of Mainz
80Angelo Scola07.11.1941
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Patriarch of Venice
81Anthony Olubunmi Okogie16.06.1936
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Lagos
82Bernard Panafieu26.01.1931
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Marseille
83Gabriel Zubeir Wako27.02.1941
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Khartoum
84Carlos Amigo Vallejo 23.08.1934
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Seville
85Justin Francis Rigali19.04.1935
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Philadelphia
86Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien17.03.1938
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh
87Eusébio Oscar Scheid 08.12.1932
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro
88Ennio Antonelli18.11.1936
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Florence
89Tarcisio Bertone 02.12.1934
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Genoa
90Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson11.10.1948
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Cape Coast
91Telesphore Placidus Toppo15.10.1939
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Ranchi
92George Pell08.06.1941
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Sydney
93Josip Bozanić20.03.1949
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Zagreb
94Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn05.03.1934
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City
95Rodolfo Quezada Toruño08.03.1932
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Guatemala
96Philippe Barbarin17.10.1950
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Lyon
97Péter Erdő25.06.1952
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Esztergom–Budapest
98Marc Ouellet 08.06.1944
CP21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archbishop of Quebec
99Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez23.12.1926
CD21.02.1998
John Paul II
Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
100Darío Castrillón Hoyos04.07.1929
CD21.02.1998
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei
101James Francis Stafford26.07.1932
CD21.02.1998
John Paul II
Major Penitentiary
102Agostino Cacciavillan14.08.1926
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
President emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See
103Sergio Sebastiani11.04.1931
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See
104Zenon Grocholewski11.10.1939
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education
105José Saraiva Martins 06.01.1932
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
106Crescenzio Sepe02.06.1943
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
107Mario Francesco Pompedda18.04.1929
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
Prefect emeritus of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
108Walter Kasper05.03.1933
CD21.02.2001
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
109Jean-Louis Tauran05.04.1943
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church
110Renato Raffaele Martino23.11.1932
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
111Francesco Marchisano25.06.1929
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter and President of the Labour Office of the Apostolic See
112Julián Herranz Casado31.03.1930
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
113Javier Lozano Barragán26.01.1933
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers
114Stephen Fumio Hamao09.03.1930
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
115Attilio Nicora16.03.1937
CD21.10.2003
John Paul II
President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See

Not in attendance

Cardinal electors by continent and by country

The 115 attending cardinal electors were from 52 countries on all six inhabited continents; the countries with the greatest number of cardinal electors were Italy, the United States and, jointly, Germany and Spain.
indicating the number of cardinal electors in attendance from each country
ContinentNumberPercentage
Africa11
North America22
South America12
Asia10
Europe*58
Oceania2
Total115100.0%