The Pope has died. What happens next?

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, was scheduled to preside over the rite, which includes the formal ascertainment of death, in the Chapel of the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.

The Holy See Press Office indicated that those present would include the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and family members of the late Pope Francis, along with Dr Andrea Arcangeli and Dr Luigi Carbone, the Director and Deputy Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene, respectively.

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told journalists that the Pope’s body could be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning, so that the faithful may pray before his mortal remains.

“The translation of the Holy Father’s mortal remains to the Vatican Basilica, for the veneration of all the faithful, may take place on the morning of Wednesday, April 23, 2025, according to the arrangements that shall be determined and communicated tomorrow, following the first Congregation of the Cardinals,” Mr Bruni said on April 21.

The process following the death of a Roman Pontiff is found in St John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis, which was revised by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and again just before he resigned in 2013.

The funeral and burial of a pope who dies in office should take place “between the fourth and sixth day after death”, the document said. The exact date is determined at a meeting of all the cardinals able to reach the Vatican immediately after the papal death.

The cardinals also determine when the conclave to elect a new pope should begin, although Pope Benedict’s update of Universi Dominici Gregis states that it should be at least 15 days from the death or resignation of the pope and can be no more than 20 days since the vacancy of the papacy.

There is a mandated nine-day period of official mourning. For the eight days after the funeral, other memorial Masses are celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica. The nine-day period is known as the “novendiales”.

The rites and rituals used – from the formal verification of the pope’s death to the eight memorial Masses after the funeral – are published in the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff), originally approved by St John Paul II in 1998, but published only the day after his death in 2005.

In late 2024, the Vatican released a newer, simplified version on the orders of Pope Francis.

Everything having to do with the funeral and with preparations for the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor belongs to the College of Cardinals.

FULL STORY

Cardinal Farrell to preside at rite of ascertainment of Pope Francis’ death – Vatican News (Vatican News)

Pope Francis has died. Here’s what happens next (CNS)

Universi Dominici Gregis (February 22, 1996) | John Paul II