Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday at St. Peter’s Square in front of St. Peter’s Cathedral and marks the beginning of a highly choreographed process to select a new pope who is immersed in both history and politics.
All 252 Cardinals from around the world will attend funerals. At least 120 people will then convene to elect the next leader of the 1 billion members of the Catholic Church in a sacred process known as the Conclave. There is already much speculation about who the Cardinals will choose, and whether the new Pope will continue to prioritize the presidency of Vatican officials’ poverty and concerns over reform.
On Monday morning, the Vatican News, the Vatican official publication, announced that the 88-year-old Pope had died of a stroke and an “irreversible cardiac breakdown.”
As the 266th leader of the Church, he was respected by many Catholics and theologians for his commitment to social justice, and focused on the mission of the Church to immigrants, the poor and the oppressed. He followed the Church’s conservative doctrines on abortion and LGBTQ rights, but he shook the Church’s conservative norms when he told the clergy to be “obsessed” with their issues.
Pope Francis’ Saturday funeral and what happened after
Funeral services are scheduled for 1pm Pacific Standard Time.
In line with tradition, the Vatican Health Bureau puts the Pope’s death in his home and his body in the co, confirming that embarrassment, that he has been moved to St. Peter’s Cathedral for funeral mass and burial.
During this time, Cardinal Kevin Farrell has served as Cardinal Camerlengo. Cardinal Camerengo is someone appointed by the Pope before death, who has a certain duty during the transition to succession, NPR reported. These duties include destroying the late Pope’s iconic fisherman’s ring (used to seal Vatican documents) and preparing the conclave.
The Pope’s body must be buried between the fourth and sixth days of his death. Last year, Pope Francis changed the pope’s customs buried in three ffin to just two, and the body was placed on a wooden ffin containing a co of zinc, and PBS was reported. In line with the change, he is buried in the Cathedral of Major St. Mary, outside the Vatican. Outside the Vatican is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who visited at the beginning and end of all the apostles’ trips that were photographed during the 12 years of Pope.
After the funeral there will be nine days of official mourning known as “Novendiali”. This is when Cardinals University gathers at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City for the Conclave.
Things you need to know about Conclave
The Conclave is a gathering of 120 church cardiacs who will hold secret voting at the Sistine Chapel to elect the next Pope.
There is no date for the conclave, but it must be held 15-20 days after the declaration of the “Sedequate,” a pope vacant caused by the death or resignation of the Pope.
Votes were filled out, tallied and burned during the voting session. After all rounds of votes, the smoke is released from the chimney above the church. Black smoke means that the Pope has not been selected, and a new vote will be held. White smoke means the Pope has been chosen.
To be elected as a leader, the next Pope will need two-thirds of the vote:
That vote includes the cardinals of countries with historically large congregations, such as France, Italy and the United States, but other countries from farther places, such as Mongolia, which was primarily carded by the Pope Francis Cardinal, appointed in 2022, said they were Father Alain Decki, a scholar of theology and Latin studies at Loyola Mary University, and professor of theological studies.
“There are still some cardinals in the world’s largest Catholic cities, but he will choose cardinals from places around him,” Deck said of the late Pope. “This was consistent with the idea that the church needed to not only stay in the centre, but also be more attention-grabbing, but not just to those who were most paying attention. Usually, those who are forgotten are people from poor communities.”
Currently, 80% of the Cards participating in the Conclave were hand-picked by Pope Francis.
“It includes many cardinals from small parts of the world, so it’s a different configuration than what we’ve had in the past,” Fr. Deck said.
Why Conclave doesn’t have a cardinal from California?
For a long time, California will not represent the Cardinal to the Conclave.
Cardinal Roger Mahoney, who headed the Archdiocese of LA from 1985 to 2011, was banned from the process for two reasons. And when sold in 1989, he gets older because the conclave participants must be under 80 years old.
In California, there was Cardinal Robert McKelloy, who was born in San Francisco and worked longtime in churches in San Francisco, San Mateo and, more recently, San Diego. Cardinal McElroy moved steadily to become a pastor of the Archdiocese for his life and development in the parish, and served in that role until he was appointed 6th Bishop of San Diego in March 2015.
Pope Francis appointed the then bishop to Cardinals University in 2022, and three years later Francis appointed Cardinal McElroy as Washington’s eighth Archbishop on January 6th.
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles is unable to participate as he is not a cardinal. Francis thinks he is too conservative to lift him up actively, said David Gibson, director of the Center for Religion and Culture at Fordham University.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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