Tens of thousands of people streamed past the tomb of Pope Francis on Sunday, packing the Roman basilica where he had chosen to be buried in a break from tradition.
No pope had been laid to rest outside the Vatican in more than a century, but Francis opted instead for burial in Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major), located in the Italian capital’s most multicultural neighbourhood.
His coffin was taken there on Saturday after his funeral Mass in St Peter’s square, with around 150,000 people lining the route through the heart of the city to say their farewells.
The casket was placed in a simple marble tomb in a side aisle of the basilica. Only his name in Latin, “Franciscus”, is inscribed on top, while a reproduction of the plain cross that he used to wear around his neck hangs above the niche.
“I feel like it’s exactly in the way of the Pope. He was simple, and so is his place now,” said Polish pilgrim Maria Brzezinska after paying her respects.
Visitors began queuing well before the Basilica opened at 7:00am (0500GMT) and the church rapidly filled with well-wishers after the doors opened. Authorities urged people to leave as soon as they had seen the tomb, saying thousands more were waiting to get in.
Six hours later, 30,000 people had visited St Mary Major, according to the Vatican.
Tourists leaving the basilica at lunch time said they had been queuing for more than two hours and had only a few minutes inside.
In the afternoon, hundreds of cardinals gathered in the church for prayers.
The church was founded in 432 and is the only basilica in Rome that preserves the early Christian structure, although there have been many later additions.
Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88, was especially attached to it because of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God. He prayed there before and after every overseas trip.
A venerated Byzantine icon of Mary is housed in the Pauline chapel near the tomb. A vase of golden roses, donated by Francis in 2023, sits among candlesticks under the icon. He last visited the chapel carrying a bunch of white roses on April 12.
A single white rose was placed on his tomb.
“So much intensity. He was a person close to everyone, so we respect him for what he did, each in our own way. Thank you,” said Carmelo Lamurra, a Rome resident.
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With Pope Francis laid to rest, all eyes turn now to the conclave, the secretive meeting of cardinals set to convene within days to elect a new head of the Catholic Church.
Alongside world leaders and reigning monarchs, an estimated 400,000 people turned out on Saturday for the Argentine pontiff’s funeral at the Vatican and burial in Rome.
The crowds were a testament to the popularity of Francis, an energetic reformer who championed the poorest and most vulnerable.
Many of those mourning the late pope, who died on Monday aged 88, expressed anxiety about who would succeed him.
“He ended up transforming the Church into something more normal, more human,” said Romina Cacciatore, 48, an Argentinian translator living in Italy.
“I’m worried about what’s coming.”
On Monday morning, at 9:00am (0700 GMT), cardinals will hold their fifth general meeting since the pope’s death, at which they are expected to announce a date for the conclave.
Held behind locked doors in the frescoed Sistine Chapel, the election of a pope has been a subject of public fascination for centuries.
Cardinal-electors will cast four votes a day until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority, a result broadcast to the waiting world by burning papers that emit white smoke.
Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said last week he expected the conclave to take place on May 5 or 6 — shortly after the nine days of papal mourning, which ends on May 4.
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx told reporters Saturday the conclave would last just “a few days”.
Left his mark
Francis’s funeral was held in St Peter’s Square in bright spring sunshine, a mix of solemn ceremony and an outpouring of emotion for the Church’s first Latin American pope.
More crowds are expected today (Sunday) when the public can begin visiting his simple marble tomb at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, his favourite church in Rome.
Francis was buried in an alcove of the church, becoming the first pope in more than a century to be interred outside the Vatican.
In his homily at the funeral, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re highlighted the Jesuit’s defence of migrants, relentless calls for peace and belief that the Church was a “home for all”.
Many of the mourners expressed hope that the next pope would follow his example, at a time of widespread global conflict and growing right-wing populism.
“We are concerned; hopefully the pope will carry on the foundations left by Pope Francis,” said Evelyn Villalta, a 74-year-old from Guatemala.
“He was a pope who left his mark on our generation,” added Marine De Parcevaux, a 21-year-old French student who attended the mass.
Marx said the debate over the next pope was open, adding: “It’s not a question of being conservative or progressive… the new pope must have a universal vision.”
Pray for ourselves
More than 220 of the Church’s 252 cardinals were at Saturday’s funeral, and will gather again today afternoon at Santa Maria Maggiore to pay their respects at Francis’s tomb.
There will also be a mass at St Peter’s Basilica at 10:30am (0830 GMT), led by Pietro Parolin, who was secretary of state under Francis and is a front-runner to become the next pope.
Only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in the conclave, with 135 currently eligible — most of whom Francis appointed himself.
But experts caution against assuming they will choose someone like him.
Francis, a former archbishop of Buenos Aires who loved being among his flock, was a very different character to his predecessor Benedict XVI, a German theologian better suited to books than kissing babies.
Benedict in turn was a marked change from his Polish predecessor, the charismatic, athletic and hugely popular John Paul II.
Francis’s changes triggered anger among many conservative Catholics, and many of them are hoping the next pope will turn the focus back on doctrine.
Some cardinals have admitted the weight of the responsibility that faces them in choosing a new head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“We feel very small,” Hollerich said last week. “We have to make decisions for the whole Church, so we really need to pray for ourselves.”
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Pope Francis’ wooden coffin was carried into St Peter’s Square on Saturday at the start of a funeral Mass attended by a multitude of mourners, including powerful world leaders, pilgrims and prelates.
Applause rang out as the wooden coffin, inlaid with a large cross, was brought out of St Peter’s Basilica and into the sun-filled square by white-gloved, black-suited pallbearers.
Bells tolled as the last of leaders from more than 150 countries took their places. Dignitaries included United States President Donald Trump who clashed with Francis on numerous occasions over their starkly contrasting positions on immigration.
The open-air ceremony, which will be con-celebrated by 220 cardinals, 750 bishops and more than 4,000 other priests, was due to last 90 minutes.
Thousands of ordinary mourners hurried towards the Vatican in the early hours. Many camped out to try and secure spots at the front of the crowd for the ceremony.
“We have been waiting all night,” said Spanish pilgrim Maria Fierro. “Accompanying (Francis) in his last moments is very emotional.”
Mary James, a Franciscan nun, also waited overnight. “I was up the whole night,” she said. “We want to say goodbye because he (was a) living saint, very humble and simple.”
The Argentine pope died on Monday, aged 88, following a stroke. His death ushered in a meticulously planned period of transition for the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, marked by ancient ritual, pomp and mourning.
Over the past three days, around 250,000 people filed past his body, which was laid out in an open coffin before the altar of the cavernous, 16th-century St Peter’s Basilica.
Before taking their seats, Trump and his wife Melania paid their respects to Francis’ coffin in St Peter’s Basilica. The coffin was sealed shut on Friday night.
Among the other heads of state who flew into Rome were the presidents of Argentina, France, Gabon, Germany, the Philippines, Poland and Ukraine, together with the prime ministers of Britain and New Zealand, and many European royals.
Applause rang out in the square when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared.
One of the first VIPs to arrive was former US president Joe Biden and his wife Jill.
The Vatican has said some 250,000 mourners were expected to fill the vast, cobbled esplanade and access routes to the basilica. The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a 91-year-old Italian prelate.
“You can feel a lot of energy, yes, a little bit of despair because we are tired, but ultimately we want to come and say ‘thank you’, thanks to Pope Francis for all he did for his church,” said Eduardo Valencia, visiting from Mexico.
The first non-European pope for almost 13 centuries, Francis battled to reshape the Roman Catholic Church during his 12-year reign, siding with the poor and marginalised, while challenging wealthy nations to help migrants and reverse climate change.
“Francis left everyone a wonderful testimony of humanity, of a holy life and of universal fatherhood,” said a formal summary of his papacy, written in Latin, and placed next to his body.
Traditionalists pushed back at his efforts to make the Church more transparent, while his pleas for an end to conflict, divisions and rampant capitalism often fell on deaf ears.
Break with tradition
The pope shunned much of the pomp and privilege usually associated with the papacy and will carry that desire for greater simplicity into his funeral, having rewritten the elaborate, book-long funeral rites used previously.
Francis also opted to forego a centuries-old practice of burying popes in three interlocking caskets made of cypress, lead and oak. Instead, he has been placed in a single, zinc-lined wooden coffin, which was sealed closed overnight.
In a further break with tradition, he will be the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century, preferring Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major, some 5.5 kilometres (3.4 miles) from St Peter’s, as his final resting place.
His tomb has just “Franciscus”, his name in Latin, inscribed on the top. A reproduction of the simple, iron-plated cross he used to wear around his neck hangs above the marble slab.
His funeral motorcade will drive him through the city for one last time, allowing Romans to say farewell.
Italy has mounted one of the biggest security operations the country has seen since the funeral of John Paul II. It has closed the airspace over the city and called in extra security forces, with anti-aircraft missiles and patrol boats guarding the event.
As soon as Francis is buried, attention will switch to who might succeed him.
The secretive conclave to elect a successor is unlikely to begin before May 6, and might not start for several days after that, giving cardinals time to hold regular meetings beforehand to sum each other up and assess the state of the Church, beset by financial problems and ideological divisions.
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Tens of thousands of people visited the Vatican on Friday for a last glimpse of Pope Francis’s open coffin, before his funeral on Saturday. Italian authorities have stepped up security to protect the more than 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs expected to attend, alongside around 200,000 mourners.
Francis, the first Latin American pope, died on Easter Monday aged 88, less than a month after a long hospital stay with severe pneumonia.
More than 150,000 people have visited St Peter’s Basilica in the past three days to pay their last respects.
The wooden coffin, where Francis lies dressed in a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes with a rosary wrapped around his fingers, was to be closed after a private ceremony at 8pm local time on Friday.
“It was like saying goodbye to a father” who “loved me and will continue to love me as and more than before,” said Filipa Castronovo, a 76-year-old Italian nun, after seeing the coffin.
For three days, crowds waited for hours to enter St Peter’s to say their final goodbyes.
“It’s impressive to see all these people,” French cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo said of the queueing crowds, describing Francis as a man of the people.
“It’s a beautiful response, a beautiful embrace of his ministry, of his pontificate.”
Messages of condolence have poured in from around the world for Francis, a Jesuit known for his energetic reforms and support for those on the margins of society during his 12 years as pope.
LAST EASTER SPEECH
In his final public appearance on Easter Sunday, the Argentine pontiff went against doctors’ advice to speak from the Vatican balcony.
He condemned those who stir up “contempt… towards the vulnerable, the marginalised, and migrants”. He also called for peace in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Security in Rome and the Vatican has been tightened ahead of the funeral, which marks the first of nine official days of mourning. Checkpoints now surround St Peter’s Square, drones have been blocked, snipers are stationed on rooftops and fighter jets are on standby.
The Vatican has said 130 foreign delegations are confirmed for the funeral, including Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Britain’s Prince William, many of whom arrived early on Friday morning.
US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania were expected to arrive late on Friday.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron will attend the funeral, as will Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska.
After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be driven at a walking pace for burial at his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The hearse will pass down Rome’s Fori Imperiali – where the city’s ancient temples lie – and past the Colosseum, according to officials.
Big screens will be set up along the route on which to watch the ceremony, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who estimated the crowds at around 200,000.
Francis was a champion of the underdog, and a group of “poor and needy” will be at Santa Maria Maggiore to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.
Francis will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.
People will be able to visit the tomb from Sunday morning, as all eyes turn to the process of choosing Francis’s successor.
CONCLAVE DATE YET TO BE ANNOUNCED
Cardinals from around the world have been returning to Rome for the funeral and the election of a new pope.
They have been meeting every day to agree the next steps, but have yet to announce a date for the conclave.
Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Hollerich, a Jesuit who was a close adviser to Francis, said the conclave would likely begin on 5 or 6 of May.
Only those under the age of 80 – currently some 135 cardinals – are eligible to vote.
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was number two to Francis, is the favourite, according to British bookmakers William Hill.
They put him ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, and Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna.
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Heads of state and royalty will start converging on Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, but the group of poor people who will meet his casket in a small crosstown basilica are more in keeping with Francis’ humble persona and disdain for pomp.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei are among the leaders arriving Friday, the last day Argentine pope will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica before his coffin is sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral Saturday.
The Vatican said 130 delegations are confirmed, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns.
Paying respects
Tens of thousands of mourners have waited hours in line to bid farewell to Francis, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88. A higher-than-expected turnout prompted the Vatican to extend the basilica’s opening hours overnight.
By Friday morning, more than 128,000 people had filed past Francis’ open coffin placed in front of the basilica’s main altar to pay their respects. Mourners filed past at times praying, at times holding smart phones aloft — despite instructions not to — for a photo of the late pontiff laid out in red robes, a bishop’s pointed miter and a rosary entwined in his hands.
St. Peter’s Basilica remained open most of the second night, closing for just a few hours. Mourners began arriving before dawn, and sprinted into the piazza when security reopened the flows.
Giovanni Guarino drove from Naples with his girlfriend to make their final farewells to the Francis, moved by his work to help the young and disadvantaged.
“I hope that his successor follows the footsteps of Francis,” Guarino said.
The three days of public viewing are scheduled to end at 7 p.m. on Friday, after which Francis simple wooden coffin will be sealed.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell will preside over the closing and sealing of the coffin in his role of camerlengo, or interim Vatican administrator. A white cloth will be placed over the pope’s face, and a bag containing coins minted during his papacy will be put in the coffin along with a one-page written account of his papacy.
‘We will see each other again’
Roman neighbors and retired flight attendants Aurelia Ballarini and Francesca Codato came to pay respects to Pope Francis on Friday with very different motivations. Ballarini, 72, was coming to terms with her grief, and Codato, 78, was seeking forgiveness.
For Ballarini, the pope’s death leaves a hole in her life. While only 16 years younger than Francis, she considered him a grandfather figure. Every morning, she would log on to Facebook for his daily greeting, and respond “with a couple of words.”
“He gave everything, gave all of himself, up to the end,’’ said Ballarini. “I spent the last two days crying. I was not well after his passing — I can’t even say the word. For me he flew away. One day, we will see each other again.
Codato said she feels tremendous guilt toward Francis, having forsaken him out of devotion to one of his predecessors, St. John Paul II. When Francis became pope “he was an outsider to me.”
“I feel guilty, because through videos I have seen in these days, I have understood he was a man of enormous humanity, close to the simple people,” she said. “So I came to ask forgiveness, because I feel guilty towards him, like a worm.”
Cardinals ‘are in discussions’
The work of the conclave to choose a new pope won’t start until at least May 5, after nine days of public mourning.
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The Vatican on Thursday said at least 130 foreign delegations had confirmed their attendance at Pope Francis’s funeral, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs.
Here is a list of VIP guests whose offices have confirmed they will be in Rome on Saturday.
Americas
ARGENTINA: President Javier Milei.
BRAZIL: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Janja.
HONDURAS: President Xiomara Castro.
UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General António Guterres.
UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
Europe
AUSTRIA: Chancellor Christian Stocker.
BELGIUM: King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, with Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
BULGARIA: Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov.
CROATIA: President Zoran Milanović, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
DENMARK: Queen Mary.
ESTONIA: President Alar Karis.
EUROPEAN UNION: EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.
FINLAND: President Alexander Stubb.
FRANCE: President Emmanuel Macron.
GERMANY: President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz will not attend.
GREECE: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
HUNGARY: President Tamás Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
IRELAND: President Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina, plus Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin.
KOSOVO: President Vjosa Osmani.
LATVIA: President Edgars Rinkēvičs.
LITHUANIA: President Gitanas Nausėda.
MOLDOVA: President Maia Sandu.
MONACO: Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene.
THE NETHERLANDS: Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.
NORTH MACEDONIA: President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.
NORWAY: Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
POLAND: President Andrzej Duda and his wife.
PORTUGAL: President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
ROMANIA: Interim President Ilie Bolojan.
RUSSIA: Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova.
SLOVAKIA: President Peter Pellegrini.
SLOVENIA: President Nataša Pirc Musar and Prime Minister Robert Golob.
SPAIN: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
SWEDEN: King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
UKRAINE: President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska.
UNITED KINGDOM: Prince William representing head of state King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Middle East
ISRAEL: Yaron Sideman, Ambassador to the Holy See.
Africa
CAPE VERDE: President José Maria Neves.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.
Asia
INDIA: President Droupadi Murmu.
PHILIPPINES: President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Liza Marcos.
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Pope Francis’ body will be moved to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday to allow Catholic faithful to pay their final respects ahead of a funeral expected to bring United States President Donald Trump and dozens of other world leaders to Rome.
Francis, a groundbreaking reformer, died aged 88 on Monday from a stroke and cardiac arrest, ending an often turbulent 12-year reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.
His body, lying in an open casket, was set to be taken from the chapel of the Vatican residence where he lived to St Peter’s, entering through the central door, in a grand procession starting at 9am, with cardinals and Latin chants.
After a religious service, the faithful and the general public will be allowed to visit the late pontiff until 7pm on Friday, with a funeral scheduled for the next morning.
The service will be outdoors, in St Peter’s Square, and due to be led by the dean of the college of cardinals, 91-year-old Giovanni Battista Re. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend.
Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the pope on immigration, will be accompanied by first lady Melania. Leaders from Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Ukraine, European Union institutions and Francis’ home nation of Argentina also confirmed their presence.
Conclave not for another two weeks
Francis has asked to be buried in St Mary Major, a Roman basilica he was particularly attached to, rather than St Peter’s like many of his predecessors, with a simple inscription of his name in Latin, Franciscus.
On Tuesday, the Vatican released images of the pope dressed in his vestments, holding a rosary, with Swiss Guards standing beside his casket. Dignitaries, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Jewish leaders, came to visit.
His death, which came as a relative surprise as he had appeared in public on the previous day but still looked frail after double pneumonia and a five-week hospital stay that had ended on March 23, has set in motion ancient rituals.
About 60 cardinals gathered on Tuesday to decide funeral plans, with more meetings planned in the coming days on other urgent business. The conclave, which will choose the new pope, is not expected to start before May 6.
There is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis, although British bookmakers have singled out Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines, and Pietro Parolin, a compromise choice from Italy, as early favourites.
In the meantime, in the period known as the “sede vacante” (vacant seat) for the global Catholic Church, a cardinal known as the camerlengo (chamberlain), Irish-American Kevin Farrell, is in charge of ordinary affairs.
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Pope Francis will be laid to rest Saturday after lying in state for three days in St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff.
The cardinals met Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10.
The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. U.S. President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend, and Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.
The Argentine pope died Monday at age 88 after a stroke put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and greeting followers from his popemobile, looping around St. Peter’s Square.
His Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a fitting bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.
Vatican officials remember Francis
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He truly gave everything he had, up to the end,” said Sister Nathalie Becquart, one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican.
While the ordinary faithful will have an opportunity to pay their respects beginning Wednesday, Vatican officials were allowed to say their goodbyes starting Monday evening. Speaking to reporters after she paid her respects, Becquart marveled at Francis’ final Easter salute to his flock. “He really walked with his people,” she said.
Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said it was specifically Francis’ effort to promote the role of women in the church that will be one of his greatest legacies. Ravasi noted that Francis chose to be buried near his favorite icon of the Madonna, in a basilica across town, and not in the grottoes underneath St. Peter’s, as is typical for popes.
“He wanted to be buried under the shadow of a woman, in this case Maria,” said Ravasi, the Vatican’s former culture minister as he arrived for Tuesday’s first meeting of cardinals. “That is significant, his desire for the church to do more for women.”
The first images of Francis’ body were released Tuesday, showing him in red vestments and his bishop’s miter in a wooden casket, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.
In his final will, Francis said he wanted to be buried at St. Mary Major Basilica, which is home to the Salus Populi Romani icon of Mary. Before and after every foreign trip, Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.
Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March 23, after his 38-day stay, to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon. He returned April 12 to pray before it one last time.
The world reacts
Bells tolled in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half-staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the U.S. after Francis’ death was announced by the camerlengo, who takes charge of the Vatican after a pope’s death. Soccer matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the pope who was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.
World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion, while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity.
“Like every Argentine, I think he was a rebel,” said 23-year-old Catalina Favaro, who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “He may have been contradictory, but that was nice, too.”
In East Timor, where Francis’ final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of the population last September, President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis’ courage. “Pope Francis was a brave man who was not afraid to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war, but do not want to seek peace,” Ramos-Horta said.
“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to welcome the stranger, and reminded us that our common home — this Earth — is a gift we must protect for future generations,” said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and has around 30 million Catholics, representing about 14% of the population.
Viewing the pope’s coffin
The pope’s formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace and in the Santa Marta hotel were sealed Monday evening, following a centuries-old ritual. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause was determined, presided over the rituals.
Francis chose not to live in the palace, but in a two-room suite in Santa Marta on the other side of Vatican City. He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby, where the private viewing was underway Tuesday for Vatican officials and members of the pontifical household.
In changes made by Francis last year, his body was not placed in three wooden coffins, as it had been for previous popes. Rather, Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside.
Once in St. Peter’s, his casket will not be put on an elevated bier — as was the case with past popes — but will just be be placed simply facing the pews, with the Paschal candle nearby.
“He was a pope who didn’t change his path when it came to getting (his hands) dirty,” Francis’ vicar for Rome, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, said in a Mass in his honor. “For him, poor people and migrants were the sacrament of Jesus.”
Choosing the next pope
After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the “novendiali.” During this period, cardinals arrive in Rome and meet privately before the conclave.
To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15 to 20 days after the “sede vacante” — the “vacant See” — is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.
Once the conclave begins, cardinals vote in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel. After voting sessions, the ballots are burned in a special stove. Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected, while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church.
The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins. If he accepts, his election is announced by a cardinal from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica who tells the world: “Habemus Papam” — Latin for “We have a pope.”
