Il Nuovo Postiglione - Conclave to elect new pope starts May 7

So-called "Princes of the Church" under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new religious leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

The date was decided at meeting of cardinals of all ages early Monday, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on April 21 aged 88.

The Church's 252 cardinals were called back to Rome after the Argentine's death, although only 135 are eligible to vote in the conclave.

They hail from all corners of the globe and many of them do not know each other.

But they already had four meetings last week, so-called "general congregations", where they began to get better acquainted.

Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of the Italian bishops' conference, said there was a "beautiful, fraternal atmosphere".

"Of course, there may be some difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous and not everyone knows each other," he told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The Vatican on Monday closed the Sistine Chapel, where voting will take place under Michelangelo's 16th-century ceiling frescoes, to begin preparations.

So far there are few clues as to who cardinals might choose.

"I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable," Spanish Cardinal Jose Cobo told El Pais in an interview published on Sunday.

Francis was laid to rest on Saturday with a funeral and burial ceremony that drew 400,000 people to St Peter's Square and beyond, including royalty, world leaders and ordinary pilgrims.

On Sunday, about 70,000 mourners filed past his marble tomb in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome, after the "pope of the poor" opted to be buried outside the Vatican's walls.

- Bookmakers' odds -

With conflicts and diplomatic crises raging around the world, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who under Francis was secretary of state -- the pope's number two -- is for many the favourite to succeed him.

British bookmakers William Hill put him slightly ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana's Cardinal Peter Turkson.

Next in their odds come Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna, Guinea's Cardinal Robert Sarah, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

While Francis's efforts to create a more compassionate Church earned him widespread affection and respect, some of his reforms angered the Church's conservative wing, particularly in the United States and Africa.

Roberto Regoli, a professor of Church history and culture at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, told AFP that the cardinals would be looking "to find someone who knows how to forge greater unity".

"We are in a period in which Catholicism is experiencing various polarisations, so I don't imagine it will be a very, very quick conclave," he said.

Bassetti, who is too old to participate, said however he thought it "will not be long".

Some 80 percent of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis -- though that is no guarantee they will pick a successor in his likeness.

Most are relatively young, and for many it is their first conclave.

- 'We need a courageous leader' -

The vote is highly secretive and follows strict rules and ceremonial procedures. The process could take several days, or potentially longer.

There are four votes per day -- two in the morning and two in the afternoon -- until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority.

Fewer than half of those eligible to vote are European.

"We need a courageous leader, a bold one, capable of speaking forcefully, of holding the helm of the Church steady even in storms... offering stability in an era of great uncertainty."

Patrizia Spotti, a 68-year-old Italian visiting Rome for the 2026 Jubilee holy year, told AFP Monday she hoped the new pontiff "will be a pope like Francis".

It was a difficult time for Catholicism, she said.

"Churches are empty. And the Church itself has made mistakes, all the scandals with the children," she said, referring to the widespread revelations of clerical sex abuse.

F.Ciambrone--INP