The
College of Cardinals is divided into three orders
cardinal bishops (CB),
cardinal priests (CP), and
cardinal deacons (CD)with
formal precedence in that sequence. This determines the order in which the cardinal electors process into the conclave, take the oath, and cast their ballots. For cardinal bishops (except the Eastern Catholic
patriarchs), the
dean of the College of Cardinals is
first in precedence, followed by the vice-dean, and then by the remainder in order of appointment as cardinal bishops. For cardinal bishops who are Eastern Catholic patriarchs, for cardinal priests, and for cardinal deacons, precedence is determined by the date of the
consistory in which they were created cardinals and then by the order in which they appeared in the official announcement or bulletin. Three of the cardinal electors were from the
Eastern Catholic Churches:
Ignace Moussa I Daoud (
Syriac),
Varkey Vithayathil (
Syro-Malabar), and
Lubomyr Husar (
Ukrainian). The senior cardinal bishop, the senior cardinal priest, the senior cardinal deacon, and the junior cardinal deacon, who were assigned specific roles in the conclave, such as presiding over the conclave itself (the senior cardinal bishop) or
announcing the election of the pope (the senior cardinal deacon), were, respectively,
Joseph Ratzinger,
William Wakefield Baum,
Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez, and
Attilio Nicora. The
camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who was in charge of administering the Holy See during its vacancy, was
Eduardo Martínez Somalo. The data below are as of 2 April 2005, the date on which the Holy See became vacant. All cardinals are of the
Latin Church unless otherwise stated. Cardinals belonging to
institutes of consecrated life or to
societies of apostolic life are indicated by the relevant
post-nominal letters.
Not in attendance == Cardinal electors by continent and country ==