Cardinal Parolin likely to oversee next conclave after Pope approves re-elected Dean of Cardinals

Cardinal Parolin likely to oversee next conclave after Pope approves re-elected Dean of Cardinals - Printable Version

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Cardinal Parolin likely to oversee next conclave after Pope approves re-elected Dean of Cardinals - Stone - 02-07-2025

Cardinal Parolin likely to oversee next conclave after Pope approves re-elected Dean of Cardinals
91-year-old Cardinal Battista Re has been re-elected as Dean of the College of Cardinals, meaning the Vatican's current Secretary of State,

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will lead proceedings in a papal conclave if it happens before he turns 80 in 2035.

[Image: Re-Parolin.jpg]

Cardinal Re (L) & Cardinal Parolin ®
Mario Tama/ Adam Berry/Getty Images

Feb 6, 2025
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Holy See announced that 91-year-old Cardinal Battista Re has been re-elected as Dean of the College of Cardinals, but what does that mean and what role will it play in a papal conclave?

On February 6, the Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Francis had approved the re-election of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri as Dean and Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals respectively. Their approval came on January 7 and January 14 respectively.

Re has served as Dean since January 2020, upon the death of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who had been Dean from April 2005. Re is a long-serving and influential member of the Roman Curia and had previously been Vice-Dean from January 2017, in addition to chairing the 2013 Papal Conclave.

For his part Sandri has been Vice-Dean since January 2020 and is now aged 81, having also spent a number of decades working in the Roman Curia.

The by-product of this announcement is that Francis has thus ensured that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, currently the Vatican’s Secretary of State, will lead the proceedings in a papal conclave, provided it happens before he turns 80 in 2035.

What is the role of the Dean?

The Dean of the College of Cardinals is considered the “primus inter pares” or the “first among equals.”

The cardinal who is named to this ancient role is elected by brother cardinals who have the rank of cardinal-bishop, and must himself be a cardinal-bishop. A cardinal-bishop is the highest of the three levels of the College of Cardinals, with cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons following suit.

The principal role of the Dean of the College of Cardinals is to announce the death of the reigning pontiff to all the cardinals and to the Diplomatic Corps attached to the Holy See. He celebrates and preaches at the pope’s funeral and is the de facto public face of the Holy See during the sede vacante period.

The Dean also has responsibility for organizing the conclave that follows the death of the pope. This involves presiding over the “general congregations” that take place before the actual voting of the conclave, along with the conclave itself.

Such a position, whilst very much in the public eye upon the death of a pope, is more honorary for the rest of the time, and the Dean does not hold legal power over his fellow cardinals, though he celebrates funerals for cardinals in Rome.

Cdl. Parolin to organize next conclave

However, Cardinal Re is now aged 91. As such, he is too old to participate in a papal conclave, since no cardinals over 80 are allowed to vote.

With the Argentinian Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals – Cardinal Sandri – also being over the age limit, this means that the coordinating role of the Dean over the papal conclave upon Pope Francis’ death will fall to the highest ranking cardinal-bishop, namely Cardinal Parolin.

Having turned 70 this past month, Parolin will not age out of the conclave until 2035, and with the health of the 88-year-old Pope Francis becoming increasingly frail, it is highly unlikely that Parolin will be too old to take part in the next conclave.

Thus while Re will likely preside over the Pope’s funeral, it will fall to Parolin to organize the ensuing conclave.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re incenses Pope Benedict XVI’s coffin, Jan 2023.

The conclave itself is made up of two chief elements, first of which are the “general congregations.”

These are particularly key times for the College of Cardinals to exchange ideas and arguments, as well as for finalizing the procedures for the conclave. With an increasingly diverse College of Cardinals whose members are unfamiliar with each other, it will also be one of the only times for cardinals to learn more about each other.

Cardinals over the age of 80 are allowed to participate in these sessions, in order to offer advice and guidance to the younger members.

Rumors had surfaced in late 2023 that Pope Francis’ favored canonist, Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda SJ, was reworking the rules to exclude cardinals over 80 from the general congregations. However, Ghirlanda subsequently denied it.

After the general congregations comes the more famous aspect of the conclave comprising of the rounds of voting held in the Sistine Chapel. Only the cardinal-electors – those under the age of 80 – take part in this.

While the Dean or his substitute – in this case Parolin at the next conclave – coordinates the conclave, he does not necessarily have responsibility for counting and reading out the tally of votes. According to Pope John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, the men who count and check the ballots are themselves chosen by lot. The text states about this aspect:

Quote:The voting process is carried out in three phases. The first phase, which can be called the pre-scrutiny, comprises:

1) the preparation and distribution of the ballot papers by the Masters of Ceremonies, who give at least two or three to each Cardinal elector;

2) the drawing by lot, from among all the Cardinal electors, of three Scrutineers, of three persons charged with collecting the votes of the sick, called for the sake of brevity Infirmarii, and of three Revisers; this drawing is carried out in public by the junior Cardinal Deacon, who draws out nine names, one after another, of those who shall carry out these tasks;

3) if, in the drawing of lots for the Scrutineers, Infirmarii and Revisers, there should come out the names of Cardinal electors who because of infirmity or other reasons are unable to carry out these tasks, the names of others who are not impeded are to be drawn in their place. The first three drawn will act as Scrutineers, the second three as Infirmarii and the last three as Revisers.

An Italian Pope?

Parolin has already been named by many Vaticanistas as papabile for the next conclave. His prominent role as Secretary of State already places him on the shortlist of cardinals deemed likely to be named pope.

Rumors also suggest that cardinals might be interested in electing an Italian in the next conclave, to try and calm the waters of Francis’ turbulent pontificate which has shocked even those who would identify as “liberals.” Having only turned 70 in mid-January, the Italian native Parolin has age and nationality on his side also to win over such support.

Pope Francis and then-new Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, attend a mass with newly appointed cardinals at St Peter’s Basilica on February 23, 2014 in Vatican City, Vatican.

But his recognition as papabile is not without concern for some, particularly given his pivotal role in the highly-controversial Sino-Vatican deal and his record of being opposed to the traditional Mass.

Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen has accused Parolin of intentionally deceiving Francis about the China deal and of having led the “betrayal” of Chinese Catholics.

Parolin’s smooth diplomatic skills have been at the forefront of his role as Secretary of State, and Zen himself praised Parolin for such diplomacy but added that it was not of a sort befitting a Catholic: “I don’t think he has faith. He is just a good diplomat in a very secular, mundane meaning.”

When surrounded by journalist gaggles at various events around Rome, Parolin ensures that he stays to take a handful of questions – most of which are then documented on the Vatican’s news channels – which further aids his attempt to paint an image of public geniality.

Reports have linked Parolin to the Vatican’s moves against the traditional Mass in Traditionis Custodes, and others have attributed to him the comment “we must put an end to this Mass forever!” when speaking about the Latin Mass.

Parolin had been named in 2024 reports as being a key supporter of rumored new restrictions on the Latin Mass, but later denied any such involvement when questioned by this correspondent.

The last cardinal who entered the conclave as Dean and emerged as Pope was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Parolin, as acting Dean during the conclave itself, might have strong odds in his favor, but the old adage recounts that “he who enters the conclave as ‘pope’ emerges as a cardinal.”