The conclave to elect a new Pope will begin on Wednesday. There is no rule that cardinals vote according to nationality or region, but understanding their views geographically gives an idea of their priorities.
This is why the election of the new Pope for the 1.4 billion Catholics across the world will be historic in terms of geographical diversity. Currently, there are 135 cardinals under the age of 80 in 71 countries, two of whom have refused to vote due to health reasons. This means that now 133 cardinals will be elected and a two-thirds vote, i.e. 89 votes, will be needed for a majority.
Italy has the most cardinals with 17, followed by the United States (10), Brazil (7), France and Spain (5), Argentina, Canada, India, Poland and Portugal with four each. Now if we divide them by region, according to Vatican data, Europe has 53 cardinals and due to one of them being ill, 52 will take part in the voting.
Now, a cardinal in charge of the Vatican Liturgy Office will have different priorities than the archbishop of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.This is followed by 23 cardinals from Asia, 17 from Africa after one of the 18 fell ill, 17 from South America, 16 from North America, four from Central America and four from Oceania.