Usually, up to about 120 cardinals are allowed to vote for a new pope, but the exact number who actually vote in a given conclave can be slightly lower or higher depending on how many are under age 80 and able to attend.

Quick Scoop: How many cardinals vote for pope?

  • The body that elects the pope is called the College of Cardinals.
  • Only cardinals under the age of 80 at the time the papal seat becomes vacant are allowed to vote in the conclave.
  • Church rules set a traditional upper limit of 120 voting cardinals , though recent conclaves have sometimes gone a bit above that in terms of eligible electors.
  • Not all eligible cardinals always attend, so the actual voting group can be a bit smaller (for example, 133 were eligible and 133 or slightly fewer planned to participate in the mid‑2020s conclave, depending on who could travel).

In short, when people ask “how many cardinals vote for pope?”, they’re talking about this select group of cardinals under 80, capped in practice at around 120 electors, give or take a few in specific conclaves.

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