Pope Francis Dies at 88 — What Happens Next?
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - NOVEMBER 01: (EDITOR NOTE: STRICTLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY - NO MERCHANDISING). Pope Francis greets pilgrims and visitors during the recitation of the midday Angelus prayer at St. Peter's Square on the Solemnity of All Saints on November 01, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. As war continues to rage in Gaza, Ukraine, and elsewhere, Pope Francis said he will celebrate Mass at the graves of Commonwealth soldiers in Rome. (Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Pope Francis, the most liberal Pope in the history of the Catholic Church and the first from Latin America, died on Easter Monday (April 21) at the age of 88, the Vatican announced. The announcement was made by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, who said the Pope passed away at 7:35 a.m. local time (1.35 a.m. ET). Until a new Pope is chosen, Farrell is effectively the head of the Vatican.
“With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God,” the statement said.
Francis had been ill recently, spending a month in the hospital with double pneumonia, so severe that the staff considered stopping his treatment to allow him to die. However, he recovered and returned to his residence at Casa Santa Marta at the Vatican.
The Pope gave the traditional Easter Sunday blessing from the balcony at St. Peter’s on Easter Sunday and briefly met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance that day, though he reportedly did not meet with him the day before and had his second-in-command give him a lecture on compassion. The Pope also called for a ceasefire in Gaza during his last public address.
What comes next? A conclave. This is basically a big meeting of all cardinals in the world, which will be tasked with choosing the next Pope. Upon the Pope’s death, the Dean of the College of Cardinals will call all the cardinal electors to the Vatican. There are currently 138 of them. Funeral rites for Pope Francis are set to be held for nine days, where he will be mourned and celebrated. Then the conclave will begin, within 15 to 20 days after a Pope dies or resigns.
The cardinals will meet at the Vatican and will be locked behind closed doors until they can choose Francis’s successor. At that point, white smoke will rise from the Sistine Chapel, and the announcement the Catholic Church has been waiting for will be made once more: Habemus Papam. We have a Pope, once more.