Rumours, rock-star cardinals and street cleaning: Rome gets ready for conclave

Papal electors gossip in bars and restaurants and try to avoid journalists seeking clues to Pope Francis’s successor

Colombian cardinals Luis José Rueda Aparicio, left, and Rubén Salazar Gómez arrive for a college of cardinals' meeting, at the Vatican, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Some journalists brave the warm spring sun, others seek respite in the shade of the Vatican’s colonnades. Whatever their strategy, the aim is the same: to spot the red-capped cardinals emerging from Synod Hall and try to elicit from them a clue as to who will succeed Pope Francis.

The men responsible for picking a new pontiff are enjoying rock-star status in Rome this week as they prepare for conclave: the secret, centuries-old ritual of electing a leader of the Catholic church that is due to begin on 7 May.