Roman Catholic cardinals will meet in a secret conclave to elect the new leader of the global Church starting from 7th May, a senior Vatican source said on Monday.

The date was decided during a closed-door meeting of cardinals at the Vatican, the first since the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, the source said. The official announcement is due at some point on Monday.

Some 135 cardinals, all under the age of 80 and from across the world, are eligible to take part in the conclave and decide who should be the next leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.

The previous two conclaves, held in 2005 and 2013, lasted just two days.