page_title: List of living cardinals
hierarchical_section_title: List of living cardinals
context_page_description: Cardinals are senior ecclesiastical leaders of the Catholic Church, almost always ordained bishops and generally holding important roles within the church, such as governing prominent archdioceses or managing dicasteries within the Roman Curia. They are created in consistories by the pope and one of their foremost duties is the election of a new pope when the Holy See is vacant, following the death or the resignation of the reigning pontiff. The body of all cardinals is collectively known as the College of Cardinals.
  Under current ecclesiastical law, as defined by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, only cardinals who have not passed their 80th birthday on the day on which the Holy See falls vacant are eligible to participate in a papal conclave to elect a new pope.
  The same apostolic constitution also specifies a maximum of 120 cardinal electors who can participate in a conclave; this number has regularly been temporarily exceeded, although never at the time of a conclave. Cardinals may also be created in pectore, in which case they are not publicly revealed by the pope; they do not enjoy the privileges of a cardinal until their names are published.
context_section_description: Cardinals are senior ecclesiastical leaders of the Catholic Church, almost always ordained bishops and generally holding important roles within the church, such as governing prominent archdioceses or managing dicasteries within the Roman Curia. They are created in consistories by the pope and one of their foremost duties is the election of a new pope (invariably from among themselves, although not a formal requirement) when the Holy See is vacant, following the death or the resignation of the reigning pontiff. The body of all cardinals is collectively known as the College of Cardinals.
  Under current ecclesiastical law, as defined by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, only cardinals who have not passed their 80th birthday on the day on which the Holy See falls vacant are eligible to participate in a papal conclave to elect a new pope.
  The same apostolic constitution also specifies a maximum of 120 cardinal electors who can participate in a conclave; this number has regularly been temporarily exceeded, although never at the time of a conclave. Cardinals may also be created in pectore (reserved 'in the breast'), in which case they are not publicly revealed by the pope; they do not enjoy the privileges of a cardinal until their names are published. The creations of any such cardinals who have not been revealed at the pope's death or resignation automatically lapse.
  As of 17 July 2020, there are 221 cardinals, 122 of whom are cardinal electors. The most recent consistory for the creation of cardinals was held on 5 October 2019, when Pope Francis created thirteen cardinals, including ten cardinal electors.  Agostino Vallini was the most recent cardinal elector to turn 80, on 17 April 2020; Lorenzo Baldisseri will be the next cardinal elector to turn 80, on 29 September 2020. Zenon Grocholewski was the most recent cardinal to die, on 17 July 2020, at the age of 80.
caption: Choir dress of a cardinal, in scarlet, comprising cassock, fascia, rochet, mozzetta, pectoral cross, zucchetto, biretta and ring