The next Pope will be selected according to rituals written and developed over centuries. After the death of Francis was confirmed by The Vatican’s health department and the Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, a well-worn procedure will now be followed.
Initially, the Pope will be dressed in a white cassock and brought to his private chapel. And Cardinal Farrell, 77, the now de-facto administrator of The Vatican, will gather there with other officials and members of the pope’s family, where Francis’s body will be placed and dressed in red. Cardinal Farrell, who is from the US and has Irish heritage, will then secure all of Francis’ private papers and seal his apartments.
Francis has lived throughout his papacy in a large section of the second floor at the Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City.
The cardinal will also arrange for the destruction of the so-called fisherman’s ring, used by the pope to seal documents, with a ceremonial hammer, to prevent forgeries.
Francis, who is known for bringing a more relaxed style to the church, changed the funeral rights of popes last year, and so his will be different to those who have gone before him.
Since the 13th century, popes’ embalmed bodies have gone on public view on a raised pedestal but Francis altered that.
A public viewing will instead take place in St. Peter’s Basilica, where thousands have paid respects to popes in the past.
Francis’ body will remain in a coffin, which will not be on a raised pedestal.
His funeral and burial must take place between four and six days after his death.
Within 15 to 20 days of his death, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, will summon the cardinals to Rome for what is known as a conclave to elect Francis’ successor.
During the time between Francis’ death and the election of his successor, the College of Cardinals will keep general oversight of the church, but it is barred from making any major decisions.
The cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel, where they must all swear an oath of secrecy and vote by secret ballot.
Only cardinals under age 80 are eligible to vote and a two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope.
The cardinals will cast repeated votes until a two-thirds majority emerges.
After every vote, smoke will be released through a chimney that can be seen from St. Peter’s Square, where huge crowds have previously formed to watch.
If a vote ends without a two-thirds majority, the smoke is black.
When a decision is reached, the smoke will be white.
There is speculation about who could be next in line, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State and Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, former head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Cardinal Luis Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and former Archbishop of Manila, is also said to be in the running, and as a Filipino, would be the first Asian Pope.
Other possible candidates include Cardinals Matteo Zuppi, Gerhard Muller, Angelo Scola, Angelo Bagnasco.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
