The Vatican’s cardinals’ assembly, known as the General Congregation, has chosen May 7 as the starting date for the highly secretive election that will choose the next pope, the Holy See said on Monday.

The conclave to elect the new pope will kick off next week as the Roman Catholic Church enters its first whole week without a leader following the death of Pope Francis.

Catholic cardinals agreed on Monday to begin a conclave on May 7 to elect a new pope, and highlighted clerical sexual abuse as one of the key challenges facing Pope Francis’s successor. Cardinals under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the world’s 1.