Cardinals can earn up to an incredible £4,000 per month if they are chosen to work in the Vatican by the pope. The salary ranges between £2,418 and £4,031 depending on a cardinal's duties. Outside the Vatican, a cardinal takes home £967 to £1,209 per month on top of having costs such as housing paid for. During his papacy, Pope Francis cut cardinals' salaries by 10% as part of wider cuts prompted by a financial crisis at the Vatican, according to MSN.com, which also published the salary figures.

Before the pay cut, the average salary of a Vatican cardinal ranged between £3,225 and £4,031. Cardinals rank just below the pope, and those who belong to the powerful College of Cardinals are tasked with electing a new pontiff in the centuries-old conclave. It leads to the election of a pope and derives its name from the Italian "con clave", which translates into English as "with a key". The name emphasises how the cardinals are sequestered until they find a winner. Cardinals have no contact with the outside world after the master of liturgical ceremonies utters the words "Extra Omnes" the Latin phrase for "all out", to ask all those present except the cardinal electors to leave the Sistine Chapel so the voting process can begin.

In between votes, the cardinals will be staying at the Domus Santa Marta hotel in Vatican City and possibly another nearby Vatican residence, since there are more cardinal electors than Santa Marta hotel rooms.

The conclave begins on the afternoon of May 7 after Mass is celebrated in the morning by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

In the afternoon, the cardinals process into the Sistine Chapel and take their seats. A priest delivers a meditation and the cardinals take an oath. After the "Extra Omnes" the conclave begins.

Unless there are any outstanding questions or problems, cardinals take a single vote on the afternoon of May 7, seeking a two-thirds majority. If they don't find a winner on the first ballot, they retire for the evening and return to the Sistine Chapel the following morning.

They can take up to two votes each morning and two each afternoon until they have a winner.

Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote. Current regulations notionally limit the number of electors to 120, but votes have often exceeded that limit. Today, there are 135 who are eligible.

Meanwhile, it emerged on Tuesday (April 29) that a once powerful Vatican official, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, formally withdrew from taking part in the conclave.

The Vatican's criminal court convicted Becciu in 2023 of embezzlement and other finance-related charges at the end of the so-called "trial of the century". But in recent days, he insisted he was still entitled to vote in the conclave.

However, he withdrew apparently after he was presented with two letters written by Pope Francis before his death, saying he shouldn't take part.

A longtime Vatican diplomat, Becciu, 76, served in embassies in Angola, Cuba and elsewhere before taking up one of the most powerful jobs as "substitute" in the Vatican secretariat of state.

Pope Francis made him the head of the Vatican's saint-making office and promoted him to the position of cardinal in 2018, but later forced his resignation over allegations of financial mismanagement.

The Sardinian native rose to prominence under conservative Pope Benedict XVI and is closely affiliated with the Vatican's conservative old guard.