Pope Francis is dead, what comes next for the Catholic church?
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Before his death, Pope Francis had asked for a simple funeral and wanted to be buried away from the Vatican, in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome. AP/PTI file photo

Pope Francis is dead; what next for Vatican, and the Catholic Church?

A papal funeral will be held in four to five days but prior to that some rituals will be observed. After the funeral, the conclave will meet to elect the new Pope


After serving 12 years as spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88.

The Pope, who lives in Vatican city, is the head of the Catholic Church and is the most important figure for the world's roughly 1.4 billion Catholics.

Roman Catholics believe he represents a direct line back to Jesus Christ and is considered to be the successor of St Peter, who was chief among Christ's initial disciples, the Apostles.

Interregnum, breaking the ring

After Pope Francis’s death, a papal funeral will unfold, which traditionally has been an elaborate affair. However, on April 2024, Pope Francis had approved a less elaborate affair.

After the pontiff's passing with no Pope at the helm, the intervening period is known as the Interregnum.

Also read: Pope Francis obit: The people’s pontiff who reimagined the Catholic conscience

On the Pope's death, there is a significant ceremony which occures. The Pope’s signet ring bearing the seal of his papacy is crushed with a hammer and broken to symbolise the end of this rule. It is also done to avoid any misuse of the ring,

Then the papal apartment is locked and sealed, and the camerlengo ( the chamberlain), who is currently Irish-American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, informs the College of Cardinals that the Pope is no more.

Nine days of mourning, Papal funeral

Nine days of mourning, follows, which is known as the Novendiale. After which, the papal funeral will be held.

But first, the Pope’s body is covered in papal regalia and placed for public viewing in St Peter’s Basilica.

His coffin unlike that of the other Popes, is not made of cypress, lead and oak. Pope Francis had opted for a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc.

The funeral is held within four to six days, and is led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals.

Most popes are buried underneath St Peter’s Basilica, but Pope Francis had decided in 2022 that he wanted to be buried away from the Vatican, in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.

Francis will also be the first Pope in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican.

During these nine days, various services and memorials will be held, allowing Catholics to pay tribute to Pope Francis and mourn his passing. They will be conducted in various churches in Rome to facilitate religious and public commemoration.

Also read: LIVE: Pope Francis passes away at 88, Vatican announces

Once the funeral and burial are complete, the most significant phase will begin, the papal conclave.

The Conclave

This highly elaborate election of the new Pope was fictionalised and made into a successful Hollywood movie, 'The Conclave'.

This Papal conclave is usually convened in 15 to 20 days after a pope’s death. Cardinals under the age 80 will arrive from all over the world to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to participate in the papal conclave. Only the cardinals below the age of 80 are eligible to vote.

The conclave is expected to be presided over by the 91-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista, the current dean of the College of Cardinals.

From India, four cardinals under the age of 80 like Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, Cardinal Cleemis Baselios, Cardinal Anthony Poola, and Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad are eligible to vote.

Strict secrecy

The election is held in strict secrecy inside the Sistine Chapel. None of the cardinals are allowed to be in touch with the outside world.

Individual cardinals keep voting for their preferred candidate until a winner is determined. The candidate should get two-thirds majority.

This process can take several days or in previous centuries, voting has taken months. Sometimes, the cardinals who are participating have also died during the process.

The only clue about the progress of the conclave will be the smoke that emerges twice a day from burning the cardinals' ballot papers. Black smoke means they were not able to come to a conclusion and the traditional white smoke means the new Pope has been chosen.

After achieving the required majority, the successful candidate has to go through certain formal procedures. The candidate has to select a papal name to mark the beginning of his role as the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church.

After accepting the position and choosing a new name, the new pope will wear a white cassock, to stress purity and new beginnings. An elder cardinal will then address a huge crowd from the balcony of St Peter’s basilica and proclaim the historic words, "Habemus papam"—"We have a pope”.

This declaration will be made before thousands of people who gather at St Peter’s Square and with millions watching on screens worldwide. With this announcement, a new era dawns for the Church.

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