Cardinals meet to elect Pope Francis’ successor—will the Church continue his inclusive legacy or return to a more conservative path?

Cardinals have wrapped up their pre-conclave meetings in the Vatican, trying to identify a possible new pontiff to follow Pope Francis who died on 21 April at the age of 88. The 133 cardinal electors from 70 countries seem fundamentally united in insisting that the question before them isn't so much whether the Catholic Church gets its first Asian or African pontiff or if he is a conservative or progressive.

The conclave to elect a new Catholic pope will start behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday (May 7) afternoon, with all cardinals under the age of 80 able to vote on who should be the next leader of the 1.