The conclave expected on 7 May will in many respects proceed in a new way, and thanks to the actions of Pope Francis

Throughout his pontificate, Francis refrained wherever possible from appointing cardinals from the traditional, long-established archdioceses, giving preference to ecclesiastical territories, many of which had never before had a cardinal.

108 of the 133 cardinals who will take part in the conclave were appointed by Pope Francis and will accordingly be voting in the election of a pontiff for the first time.

Since "cardinal" is a title rather than an office conferred automatically upon receiving the rank of bishop or archbishop, many Catholic dioceses have no cardinal of their own until the Pope deems the importance of the see, or the merits of a particular clergyman, sufficient to place the red cardinal's biretta upon his head.

The number of cardinals is considerably smaller than the number of dioceses in the Catholic world. Today there are approximately 3,500 Catholic dioceses and archdioceses in the world and only 252 cardinals.

52 European cardinals will take part in the conclave, 17 of them Italian, including the curial cardinals, that is, those who work and reside in the Vatican. At the conclave of 2013 there were 28 cardinals of Italian origin.

Compared with the conclave of 2013, there are twice as many Asian cardinals, now 20, and a third more African ones, now 18.

And so, the conclave will receive 10 voting cardinals from the USA (on the previous two occasions there were 11), 4 from Canada, 2 from Mexico. 5 from France, 4 from Portugal, 4 from Spain, 4 from Poland, 3 from Great Britain, 3 from Germany, 2 from Switzerland, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Serbia, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Luxembourg, 1 from the Netherlands, 1 from Bosnia, 1 from Croatia, 1 from Lithuania, 1 from Malta, 1 from Sweden. 7 from Brazil, 4 from Argentina, 1 from Cuba, 1 from Guatemala, 1 from Nicaragua, 1 from Haiti. 1 from Ecuador, 1 from Chile, 1 from Colombia, 1 from Paraguay, 1 from Uruguay, 1 from Peru. 18 from Africa. From Asia: 4 from India, 3 from the Philippines, 2 from Japan, 1 from Indonesia, 1 from Pakistan, 1 from China, 1 from Myanmar, 1 from East Timor, 1 from Thailand, 1 from South Korea, Malaysia, 1 from Mongolia, 1 from Singapore, 1 from Sri Lanka. 4 from Oceania. And also 1 from the Holy Land, 1 from Iran, 1 from Iraq.

For the first time there is an elector cardinal from Serbia, Sweden, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongolia, Haiti, El Salvador, South Sudan, Iran, Cape Verde, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Ghana, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Singapore and the Central African Republic.

The Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris will also be represented at the conclave, that is, churches with their own canon law and liturgical traditions: the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Syro-Malabar Church, the Syro-Malankara Church, the Ethiopian Metropolitanate and the Chaldean Church.

Let us see whom they will elect.