The pope’s passing marks the beginning of nine days of mourning, called the novendiale.
His body is dressed in papal vestments and placed in St Peter’s Basilica for public viewing. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line up to pay their respects.
Here is what typically happens after a pope passes away.
Location and timing
The funeral will likely take place in St Peter’s Square, with a service led by the dean of the College of Cardinals. The current dean is Giovanni Battista Re, 91.
Who attends
Dignitaries from all over the world attend the funeral mass for the pope.
Pope John Paul II died in April 2005, his funeral becoming one of the largest gatherings of world leaders in history.
The attendees included four kings, five queens and about 70 presidents and prime ministers.
In total, approximately four million people attended the funeral.
Funeral mass
Daily prayer services and requiem masses will be held in Catholic churches worldwide and at St Peter’s Basilica.
Burial
The burial typically takes place four to six days after the death.
Previous popes have been buried in three coffins, cypress, lead and elm, placed one inside the other.
However, Francis wished to be buried in one coffin made of wood and zinc. Francis’s predecessor was also buried with a paper scroll, or a rogito, which retells their life and papacy.
Popes are traditionally buried in the Vatican Grottoes on the lower level of Saint Peter’s Basilica. While not all popes are buried there, nearly 100 are, including Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, who passed away in 2022.
However, Francis said in an interview in 2023 that he wants to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino.
Only seven popes have been buried here, the last being Clement IX in 1669.
The election of the new pope
After the death of a pope, the Vatican enters a transitional period called the sede vacante or interregnum, where power is handed over to the College of Cardinals, but no important decisions are made until the papacy is filled.
About 15-20 days after the pope’s death, cardinals below the age of 80 convene at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, which is sealed off, to elect the new pontiff through a secret ballot.
Voting takes place in up to four rounds a day until a candidate wins two-thirds of the vote. If there is no decision after 33 rounds of voting, the top two candidates face off in a run-off vote.
Ballots are burned, and for every unsuccessful vote, black smoke is released from the Sistine Chapel.
Once the next pope is successfully elected, white smoke emerges from the chapel.
Source: Al Jazeera
