Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 85, was Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops from 2000 to 2010; he succeeds Cardinal Angelo Sodano. The dean, considered first among equals in the College of Cardinals, presides over the cardinals’ meetings between the death of a Pope and the conclave to elect the next Pope. The new vice-dean of the College of Cardinals is Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 76, since 2007 the Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.