Pope Francis Funeral DERATE: Look at tens of thousands of mourning people see the open coffin of pontiff at the Basilica of St Peter

The secret meeting of the cardinals, known as the Conclave, generally begins between 15 and 20 days after the death of a Pope.

However, if the cardinals agree, he could start to elect the successor to Pope Francis.

After the mourning period, May 5 seems to be a likely date to which he could start, said Joe Ronan, who works with the charity of Catholic media.

Only cardinals aged 80 or under the day of the Pope’s death have a vote.

Although there must be a minimum of 120 cardinals – upper members of the Catholic Church – in the Conclave, Mr. Ronan said that there were currently about 135 cardinals of the voting age.

The conclave meets in the Sistine Chapel, where there can be up to four votes per day.

There is no time defined for the conclave to elect a new pope, and if it continues for a long time, it is possible for cardinals to take a break and spend a day without vote.

A majority of two thirds is necessary for a new pope to be elected.

Whenever there is a vote, the ballots are then burned with black smoke in a fireplace in the Sistine Chapel, indicating that no one was elected. White smoke confirms a new pontiff.

Mr. Ronan said there should be a double confirmation, to avoid confusion: “In addition to white smoke, I think they were also going to ring the bells of St Peter’s as a double verification.

“These days, they hurt themselves to make sure that the color of smoke is very clear, sometimes (in the past), you have had a kind of gray color.”

A huge gathering of Catholic faithful will meet to cry the loss of Pope Francis in the coming days, followed by the secret and potentially long cardinals process that choose a new pontiff.

The church is currently in “SEDE Vacant”, or “The Vacant See”. This happened at the time of the Pope’s death.

After the funeral, the “novemdiali” takes place – nine days of official mourning. The funerals mark the first day of this period, with the last day on May 4.

Each day after the funeral, a mass will take place at the Saint-Pierre basilica, which will be chaired by another cardinal.

Only the cardinals will be allowed to concede the masses dedicated to the papal chapel on April 30 and May 4, according to reports.

Yesterday, the cardinals met in private to finalize the preparations for the funeral on Saturday and plan the conclave to elect Francis’ successor.

Pope Francis chose St Mary Major as a rest location, about 4 km from the Vatican, which marks a break in the tradition, because most of the popes were buried in the Vatican field.

The basilica was important for the Pope because it was his favorite place to pray. He prayed there before and after each international trip.

The funeral was set for Saturday at 10 a.m. (local time) in St Peter’s Square. He will be assisted by world leaders, notably the American president Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Francis’ death and funeral will inaugurate a period of transition carefully orchestrated in the Catholic church of 1.4 billion billion, the cardinals gathering in the coming days before entering a conclave, the secret ritual vote in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope.

On Wednesday, thousands of people deposited by the Saint-Pierre Basilica to pay final tribute to Pope Francis at the beginning of three days of public vision before his funeral.

Faiths of the faithful went to the main altar of the 16th century basilica, where the open wooden coffin from Francis was perched, while the Swiss guards were standing for attention.

In the coming days, tens of thousands of people should go through the Vatican, and the Vatican said that this could make the hours of vision even longer due to a high participation rate. During the first 8.5 hours, 19,430 people paid tribute to the Pope.

Francis was fitted out in red dresses, tightening a rosary and wearing the bishop miter, the traditional sharp hairstyle. The mourning people waited for hours to reach the coffin, which was behind a cord. Some kept their phones in the air as they approached taking photos in what has become a modern ritual. “It gave me chills,” said Ivennes Bianco, leaving.

She was in Rome of the city of southern Brindisi for medical care and came to pay tribute to her. “He was important to me because he encouraged coexistence. He gathered a lot of people.

“The coffin of Francis was not put on a high beer – as was the case with the past popes – but placed on a ramp, facing the benches.

It was in accordance with his wishes that rituals surrounding the papal funerals would be simplified to reflect his conviction that the role of the Pope is that of the simple pastor, not the world leader.

Pope Francis chose St Mary Major as a rest location, about 4 km from the Vatican.

He marked a break in tradition because most of the popes were buried in the Vatican field – the last pope not to be was in 1903.

The basilica was important for the Pope because it was his favorite place to pray. He prayed there before and after each international trip.

“I have always had a great devotion to St Mary Major, even before I became Pope,” he wrote in his book in 2024 El Sucesor.