Catholic cardinals will meet in conclave to elect the new pope starting from May 7th, the Vatican said on Monday.

The date was decided during a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican, the first since the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.

Some 135 cardinals, all under the age of 80 and from across the world, are eligible to take part in the conclave and decide who should be the next leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.

The 16th-century Sistine Chapel, where conclaves are held, was closed to tourists on Monday to allow for preparations for the vote.

The past two conclaves, in 2005 and 2013, lasted just two days.

But Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius said on Monday he expects this conclave may take longer, as many of the cardinals appointed by Pope Francis have never met each other before.

Francis made a priority of appointing cardinals from places that had never had them, such as Myanmar, Haiti, and Rwanda.

“We don’t know each other,” Cardinal Arborelius, one of about 135 cardinals under the age of 80 who will enter the conclave, said.

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The earliest the conclave could have begun was May 6th. Starting it a day later means cardinals will have slightly more time for their general discussions ahead of the momentous ballot.

Francis, pope since 2013, died aged 88 on April 21st. His funeral on Saturday and a procession through Rome to his burial place at the Basilica of St Mary Major attracted crowds estimated at more than 400,000. - Reuters