CBCP: 3 Filipino cardinals eligible to enter Vatican conclave

Filipino cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Orlando Quevedo, Jose Advincula, and Pablo Virgilio David pose at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, home of Filipino priests in Rome, after Pope Francis’ funeral Mass on April 26, 2025. — Photo by Cardinal Orlando Quevedo

MANILA, Philippines — Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Jose Advincula, and Pablo Virgilio David — the three Filipino cardinals eligible to enter the Vatican conclave — had been sent to the Vatican City for the anticipated papal election, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.

David, Tagle, and Advincula are among the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for, and be voted as, the 267th pope, it said in a news report posted on its website on Tuesday.

READ: Cardinals end pre-conclave talks unsure who should succeed Francis

“We will be checking in at Santa Martha starting tomorrow, May 6 (Rome time), and surrendering all our communications gadgets to fully dispose ourselves spiritually for the task of identifying the new Pope who will lead the universal Church,” David, CBCP president and Kalookan bishop, said, as quoted in the report.

The CBCP said the 133 cardinals will be at St. Peter’s Basilica at 10 a.m. (Rome time) on May 7 for the Mass for the election of the pontiff.

READ: What we know ahead of the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor

At 4:30 p.m., they will begin entering the Sistine Chapel as the Litany of Saints is chanted, followed by the singing of Veni Creator Spiritus to invoke the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

One round of voting is expected on the evening of May 7, followed by two more rounds of voting in the succeeding days.

A two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, is needed to elect the next pope.

The ballots and voting records are burned in a makeshift stove near the chapel door, which is connected to a chimney that signals the results of the conclave — black smoke for an inconclusive vote and white smoke for the election of a new pope.