The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will start on May 7, the Vatican said on Monday following a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican, the first since Francis’ funeral on Saturday.

The secretive conclave, in which roughly 130 cardinals from around the world gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next Catholic Church leader is already prompting real movie-worthy drama.

Italian journalists on Monday were asking Vatican officials if Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who has been convicted of financial crimes by the Vatican – and was once one of its most powerful figures – will be taking part in the proceedings.

Though Becciu was ordered by Pope Francis in 2020 to give up his “rights and privileges” as a cardinal after he became embroiled in a Vatican financial scandal involving a multi-million-dollar investment in luxury London real estate that cost the Holy See losses of roughly $150 million, the convicted cardinal is claiming...