List of current cardinals

Generic depiction of a cardinal's choir dress

Choir dress of a cardinal, in scarlet

Cardinals are senior members of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome. They are typically ordained bishops and generally hold important roles within the church, such as leading prominent archdioceses or heading dicasteries within the Roman Curia. Cardinals are chosen by the pope and formally created in a consistory, and one of their foremost duties is the election of a new pope – invariably from among their number, although not strictly a requirement – when the Holy See is vacant (sede vacante), following the death or resignation of a pope. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals.

Under current ecclesiastical law, as defined by the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis (1996), only cardinals who have not passed their 80th birthdays on the day on which the Holy See becomes vacant are eligible to take part in a papal conclave to elect a new pope. The same apostolic constitution specifies that no more than 120 cardinals may take part in a conclave, but makes no provision for there being more than 120 eligible cardinal electors, a number that has often been exceeded. Cardinals may be created in pectore (Template:Lit), in which case the pope does not reveal their identities; they are not entitled to the privileges of a cardinal until their names are published by the pope. The creations of any such cardinals whose names have not been revealed before the pope's death or resignation automatically lapse.

since 1 January 2026,Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)

there are

245

cardinals,

123

of whom are cardinal electors. The most recent consistory for the creation of cardinals was held on 7 December 2024, when Pope Francis created 21 cardinals, including 20 cardinal electors. John Njue was the most recent cardinal elector to turn 80, on 1 January 2026. Mario Zenari will be the next cardinal elector to turn 80, on 5 January 2026. The most recent death of a cardinal was that of Dominik Duka on 4 November 2025, at the age of 82.

Orders of the College of Cardinals, and order of precedence

The College of Cardinals is divided into three orders, with formal precedence in the following sequence:

1. Cardinal bishops (CB): six cardinals who are chosen by the pope to be titular bishops of the seven suburbicarian dioceses in the vicinity of Rome, plus a few additional cardinals who have been exceptionally "co-opted" as cardinal bishops, as well as patriarchs who lead one of the Eastern Catholic Churches.Template:Efn The two most senior cardinal bishops, who are elected by the cardinal bishops (excluding the Eastern Catholic patriarchs) from among themselves with papal approval, are the dean and the vice dean, currently Giovanni Battista Re and Leonardo Sandri, respectively. Among the cardinal electors, the senior cardinal bishop is presently Pietro Parolin.Template:Efn
2. Cardinal priests (CP): bishops and archbishops, typically in charge of dioceses around the world, as well as former cardinal deacons who have opted to be elevated to become cardinal priests. The most senior cardinal priest is the protopriest, currently Michael Michai Kitbunchu; among the cardinal electors, the senior cardinal priest is presently Peter Turkson.Template:Efn
3. Cardinal deacons (CD): bishops and archbishops who work in the Roman Curia or the diplomatic service of the Holy See, and all other clergy, including priests who have been granted a dispensation from the normal requirement that a person must be consecrated a bishop before becoming a cardinal. A cardinal deacon may opt (Template:Langx) to become a cardinal priest after having served as a cardinal deacon for ten years. The most senior cardinal deacon is the protodeacon, currently Dominique Mamberti; he is also the senior cardinal deacon among the cardinal electors. The junior cardinal deacon is presently George Koovakad;Template:Efn he is also the junior cardinal deacon among the electors.

For cardinal bishops (excluding the Eastern Catholic patriarchs), the dean is first in precedence, followed by the vice dean and then, in order of appointment as cardinal bishops, by the remainder. For cardinal bishops who are Eastern Catholic patriarchs, for cardinal priests and for cardinal deacons, precedence is determined by the date of the consistory in which they were created cardinals and then by the order in which they appeared in the official announcement or bulletin.

All cardinals listed are members of the Latin Church unless otherwise stated. Cardinals belonging to institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life are indicated by the relevant post-nominal letters. Cardinals in pastoral ministry are classified under the country in which their respective dioceses are located, although they may be citizens of another country.

Cardinals: listed in order of precedence

 Cardinals ineligible to participate in a papal conclave

Demographics of the College of Cardinals

{{#section:List of current cardinals|as of}} {{#section:List of current cardinals|electors}} of {{#section:List of current cardinals|all}} cardinals are eligible to participate in a papal conclave. The current threshold number of votes needed to be elected pope with the required two-thirds supermajority is , assuming that all {{#section:List of current cardinals|electors}} cardinal electors were to participate in a conclave.

Cardinals by appointing pope

This table indicates the number of current cardinals created by each pope and belonging to each order of the college.

Pope		All cardinals				Cardinal electors
No.	Name	CB	CP	CD	Total	CB	CP	CD	Total
264	John Paul II (1978–2005)	5	36	0	41	0	4	0	4
265	Benedict XVI (2005–2013)	4	54	0	58	2	16	0	18
266	Francis (2013–2025)	3	110	33	146	2	80	19	101
Total		12	200	33	all}}	4	100	19	electors}}

Cardinals by particular church sui iuris

While most cardinals belong to the Latin Church, which encompasses the vast majority of Catholics, a small number of cardinals belong to one of the twenty-three autonomous (sui iuris) Eastern Catholic Churches. At present, there are seven Eastern Catholic cardinals, including five cardinal electors, belonging to six particular churches sui iuris:

• Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (Maronite Church)
• Louis Raphaël I Sako (Chaldean Church), cardinal elector
• George Alencherry (Syro-Malabar Church)
• Baselios Cleemis (Syro-Malankara Church), cardinal elector
• Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel (Ethiopian Church), cardinal elector
• Mykola Bychok (Ukrainian Greek Church), cardinal elector
• George Koovakad (Syro-Malabar Church), cardinal elector

Particular church sui iuris		All cardinals	Cardinal electors
Latin Church (Western)		238	118
Eastern Churches	Chaldean Church	1	1
	Ethiopian Church	1	1
	Maronite Church	1	0
	Syro-Malabar Church	2	1
	Syro-Malankara Church	1	1
	Ukrainian Greek Church	1	1
	Subtotal	7	5
Total		all}}	electors}}

Cardinals by institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life

At present, there are 63 cardinals, including 32 cardinal electors, who are members of the religious life, representing 27 institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life. In this table, the common name for the members of an institute or society, if different from its formal name, is given in brackets.

Post-nominal	Institute or society	All cardinals	Cardinal electors
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists)	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians, Lazarists)	3	2
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Claretians)	2	0
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo (Scalabrinians)	2	1
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of Holy Cross (Holy Cross Fathers)	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost Fathers, Spiritans)	2	1
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists)	2	2
Template:Post-nominals	Institute of Consolata Missionaries	1	1
Template:Post-nominals	Institute of Schönstatt Fathers	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Pius X Secular Institute	1	1
Template:Post-nominals	Voluntas Dei Institute	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers)	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Missionaries of the Sacred Heart	1	1
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Augustinian Recollects	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Discalced Carmelites	1	1
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Cistercians	1	1
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)	5	4
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (Capuchins)	4	1
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Friars Minor Conventual (Conventual Franciscans)	3	3
Template:Post-nominals	Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Oblates)	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Mariamite Maronite Order (Aleppians)	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Order of Preachers (Dominicans)	4	2
Template:Post-nominals	Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice (Sulpicians)	1	0
Template:Post-nominals	Society of Saint Francis de Sales (Salesians)	10	5
Template:Post-nominals	Society of Jesus (Jesuits)	9	4
Template:Post-nominals	Society of the Divine Word (Verbites)	2	2
None	Secular clergy	182	91
Total		all}}	electors}}

Cardinals by continent

For the purposes of this article, countries are grouped into continents generally according to the regions of the United Nations geoscheme; for the region of the Americas, North America comprises the subregions of Northern America, Central America and the Caribbean, while South America comprises the remaining subregion of the same name. The statistics for the global distribution of Catholics in the table below are sourced from the 2023Template:SpeditionTemplate:Dated maintenance category (articles) of the (Statistical Yearbook of the Church), published in 2025.

Continent	All cardinals		Cardinal electors		Percentage of global Catholic population (2023)
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
Africa	29		14		20.0%
North America	35		19		20.4%
South America	30		17		27.4%
Asia	37		22		11.0%
Europe	110		47		20.4%
Oceania	4		4		0.8%
Total	all}}	100.0%	electors}}	100.0%	100.0%

Cardinals by country

At present, 92 countries are represented in the College of Cardinals, including 66 with at least one cardinal elector. The countries with the greatest numbers of cardinals are Italy (50), the United States (16), and Spain (13). Among the cardinal electors, the countries with the greatest numbers are Italy (17), the United States (9), and Brazil (7).

Country	Continent	All cardinals	Cardinal electors
Albania	Europe	1	0
Algeria	Africa	1	1
Argentina	South America	6	4
Australia	Oceania	1	1
Austria	Europe	1	0
Bangladesh	Asia	1	0
Belgium	Europe	1	1
Bolivia	South America	1	0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	1	0
Brazil	South America	8	7
Burkina Faso	Africa	1	0
Canada	North America	5	4
Cape Verde	Africa	1	1
Central African Republic	Africa	1	1
Chile	South America	4	1
Colombia	South America	3	1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Africa	1	1
Croatia	Europe	1	1
Cuba	North America	1	1
Dominican Republic	North America	1	0
East Timor	Asia	1	1
Ecuador	South America	1	1
El Salvador	North America	1	0
Ethiopia	Africa	1	1
France	Europe	7	5
Germany	Europe	6	3
Ghana	Africa	1	1
Guatemala	North America	1	1
Guinea	Africa	1	0
Haiti	North America	1	1
Honduras	North America	1	0
Hong Kong	Asia	3	1
Hungary	Europe	1	1
India	Asia	6	4
Indonesia	Asia	2	1
Iran	Asia	1	1
Iraq	Asia	1	1
Ireland	Europe	1	0
Italy	Europe	50	17
Ivory Coast	Africa	2	1
Japan	Asia	2	2
JerusalemTemplate:Efn	Asia	1	1
Kenya	Africa	1	0
South Korea	Asia	2	1
Laos	Asia	1	0
Latvia	Europe	1	0
Lebanon	Asia	1	0
Lithuania	Europe	3	1
Luxembourg	Europe	1	1
Madagascar	Africa	1	1
Malaysia	Asia	1	1
Mali	Africa	1	0
Malta	Europe	1	1
Mauritius	Africa	1	0
Mexico	North America	6	2
Mongolia	Asia	1	1
Morocco	Africa	1	1
Mozambique	Africa	1	0
Myanmar	Asia	1	1
Netherlands	Europe	1	1
New Zealand	Oceania	1	1
Nicaragua	North America	1	1
Nigeria	Africa	4	1
Pakistan	Asia	1	0
Panama	North America	1	0
Papua New Guinea	Oceania	1	1
Paraguay	South America	1	1
Peru	South America	3	1
Philippines	Asia	5	3
Poland	Europe	5	3
Portugal	Europe	6	4
Rwanda	Africa	1	1
Senegal	Africa	1	0
Serbia	Europe	1	1
Singapore	Asia	1	1
Slovenia	Europe	1	0
South Africa	Africa	2	1
South Sudan	Africa	1	1
Spain	Europe	13	3
Sri Lanka	Asia	1	1
Sudan	Africa	1	0
Sweden	Europe	1	1
Switzerland	Europe	2	2
Tanzania	Africa	2	1
Thailand	Asia	2	1
Tonga	Oceania	1	1
Uganda	Africa	1	0
United Kingdom	Europe	4	1
United States	North America	16	9
Uruguay	South America	1	1
Venezuela	South America	2	0
Vietnam	Asia	2	0
Total		all}}	electors}}

See also

• Cardinals created by John Paul II
• Cardinals created by Benedict XVI
• Cardinals created by Francis
• Cardinal electors in the 2025 conclave
• Council of Cardinals
• List of creations of cardinals
• Suburbicarian diocese
• Titular church (List of titular churches)

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External links

• Template:Sister-inline
• Holy See Press Office, The College of Cardinals
• GCatholic.org, College of Cardinals
• College of Cardinals Report