The death of Pope Francis not only marks the passing of a man, but also means millions of Catholics around the world have no leader.
Aware of the importance of this position, what happens next is a hugely choreographed and rehearsed series of events, that have been replicated over the years, although tweaked in recent years to keep up with modern times. Pope Benedict died on New Year’s Eve 2022, with his funeral taking place on January 5, 2023, overseen by the current Pope Francis.
Last year the pontiff approved a scaled-back funeral for himself, leaving some of the arcane rites and rituals in the past. However there will still be some traditions that date back to ancient Rome.
When the pope dies, it is traditionally the job of the Camerlengo – a senior Vatican official – to confirm the death of a pope, this position is currently being held by Cardinal Kevin Farrell from Ireland. Although doctors will have officially confirmed his death, the Camerlengo will visit the pope’s private chapel and call out his name in a bid to rouse him. When he does not respond, his signet ring that acts as the seal for official papal documents is destroyed, signifying the end of his reign. The papal apartments are then sealed off.
Once the pope’s death is announced nine days of mourning begin in the smallest country in the world, known as the Novendiale. Italy typically declares a period of national mourning as well. The pope’s body will be blessed and then put on display in St Peter’s Basilica for public viewing. Hundreds of thousands of people queue for hours to pay their respects. As Pope Francis lies in state, daily prayer services and Requiem Masses will be held in the Vatican and around the Catholic world.
The pope’s funeral will most likely be held in St Peter’s Square to allow the most people to pack into Vatican city for the service and is usually led by the dean of the College of Cardinals. This position is currently held by Giovanni Battista Re, a 91 year old Italian. Although more than 100 popes have been buried in the crypts beneath St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis said during an interview in 2023 that he has chosen Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome, one of his favourite and most-frequented churches, as his final resting place, making him the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican.
Around two to three weeks after the funeral, the College of Cardinals will get together in the Sistine Chapel to hold a conclave – the extremely secretive process to elect the new pope. Any male baptised Catholic is technically eligible to become pope, although for the last 700 years, they have always been chosen from the College of Cardinals.
Throughout history most popes have been Europeans, the current Pope is the first non-European in 1,300 years, having been born in 1936 in Argentina as Jorge Mario Bergoglio. On the day of voting, the Sistine Chapel is physically sealed off and the cardinals, who have taken an oath of secrecy, are locked inside.
Only cardinals aged under 80 get a vote and the winning candidate must get two-thirds of the votes to win. Once the ballots are counted, they are burned in a stove inside the Sistine Chapel. A second stove burns a chemical sending up a smoke signal through a chimney to the outside world: Black smoke means a new pope has not been selected, white smoke means one has.
Once the pope has been voted in and the white smoke has appeared, a College of Cardinals representative has the honour of reading out the Latin announcement Habemus papam, meaning “We have a pope,” from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. The new pope then steps out onto the balcony and makes his first address to the world. Most popes then serve until the day they die, but in recent times Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, aged 85, because of his declining health. He was the first pontiff to step down in 600 years.
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