What happens when a pope dies?

April 21, 2025 - The passing of a pope sets in motion a series of centuries-old processes, including a nine-day mourning period, an elaborate burial, and the election of a new leader for the Catholic Church.

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A papal funeral has traditionally been an elaborate affair, but Pope Francis recently approved plans to make the whole procedure less complex.

Breaking with long-standing tradition, Pope Francis has chosen a simpler path for his burial. Unlike his predecessors, who were laid to rest in three nested coffins, Francis will be buried in a plain wooden coffin lined with zinc.

He has also done away with the custom of placing the Pope’s body on a raised platform, or catafalque, in St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing. Instead, mourners will have the chance to pay their respects while his body lies in an open coffin, without the traditional display.

In another historic departure, Francis will become the first pope in over a century to be buried outside the Vatican. His final resting place will be the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas and a site deeply significant to him throughout his papacy.

At the end of the process, a new leader of the Catholic church will be selected in a high-stakes election dramatised in the Oscar-nominated thriller “Conclave,” with progressive and conservative cardinals vying for control of an institution with a billion followers globally.