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Head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State, Pope Francis passed away on April 21, 2025. The Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced the news of the Pope's passing from the Casa Santa Marta.
The head of the Catholic Church was admitted to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital on February 14, 2025, following a bout of bronchitis. According to Reuters after the Pope's camerlengo announces his demise, he seals the Pope's private apartment, commencing preparations for the funeral.
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The camerlengo decides when the Pope's coffin will be taken into St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing, along with three assistants. The trio ensures that Pope Francis' "Fisherman's Ring" and lead seal are broken, preventing use by anyone else.
For the unversed, the Fisherman's Ring was used as a seal for the Pope's papal briefs and private letters. While its use in the said capacity has been discontinued, every newly elected head of the Catholic Church is given a ring to symbolize priestly authority.
Since no autopsy is to be performed on the Pope's body, his body will lie in St. Peter's Basilica in papal vestments. The body will be devoid of a catafalque, a decorative wooden framework supporting the coffin.
The practice of triple coffins and removal organs won't take place in the current scenario. The late Pope will be buried in a single wooden and zinc coffin in Santa Maria Maggiore. The location will make him the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican Grottoes in a century. Santa Maria Maggiore was Pope Francis' favored Roman basilica, and it was where he prayed at before and after his overseas trips.
How will the new head of the Catholic Church be chosen? Details explored amid Pope Francis' demise
The mourning rites following the demise of Pope Francis will last for nine days wherein the cardinals will decide the date and other details of the funeral. The funeral will be held about 4 to 6 days later in St. Peter's Square in complaince with the late Pope's wishes.
The Vatican is currently in a nine day mourning period called the Novendiale. Following that, the cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel after the funeral for a special mass concerning the election of a new Pope.
Upto 10 cardinals will vote up to four times a day requiring two-thirds of majority to elect a new head of the Catholic Church. The cardinals must be Catholic, male, and under the age of 80 to be allowed to vote.
It is after the 34th ballot that the rule of the two-thirds majority changes, given the final choice is between 2 candidates who received the most votes in the previous rounds. After every vote either black or white smoke will blow from the chapel's chimney acting as a signal of the cardinals reaching a consensus on the new Pope.
Black smoke symbolizes an inconclusive outcome. Meanwhile, white smoke results in the St. Peter's Basilica balcony echoing a "Habemus Papam," (We have a Pope) by the dean of the College of Cardinals. After the election is concluded, the chosen Pope is asked if he accepts the position and which name he wishes to take. This is followed by the new Pope giving the crowd his blessing in the square.
Pope Francis' demise marks the first time since April 2, 2005, that a Pope has died while in office. The last time this happened was when Pope John Paul II died in 2005. Pope Francis took over the position of the head of the Catholic Church in 2013 following ater Pope Benedict XVI retired.
