A hundred and thirty-three mostly elderly men will on May 7th process into the intimidatingly beautiful Sistine Chapel to begin electing the next Roman Catholic pope. The cardinal-electors, who must have been aged below 80 when the previous pontiff died, have a daunting responsibility. A pope is not just the spiritual leader of more than half the world’s 2.5bn or so Christians. Believed by the faithful to be God’s representative on earth, he has absolute control of his church. The cardinal-electors need only count their number to see that. The rule, introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1975, states unequivocally they “may not exceed 120”. The late Pope Francis simply ignored it. You can if you are supreme pontiff.