One by one, placing a right hand on the Book of Gospels, staff driving, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the cardinals who will elect a new pope will swear an oath of perpetual secrecy about the election of the 267th successor of St. Peter.
Vatican
The 135 cardinals eligible to elect the next pope will enter the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave May 7, the Vatican announced.
Pope Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the pope, who died April 21 at the age of 88.
Given the late Pope Francis’ care and concern for the poor, a representative group of them has been formally invited to welcome his casket to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.
Pope Francis’ solemn funeral Mass will be broadcast and livestreamed by multiple media outlets April 26, providing several ways people can watch and participate in the funeral from around the world.
Here is an explanation of some of the terms and practices related to the time between the death of Pope Francis April 21 and the election of his successor.
The funeral Mass of Pope Francis will be celebrated April 26 in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican announced.
With the death of Pope Francis, the April 27 canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis was postponed and the Mass scheduled for that day will be a memorial Mass, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis personally thanked the health care workers and medical staff who cared for him in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for 38 days while he recovered from respiratory infections.
The Vatican inaugurated a nursery school for children of Vatican employees April 14.