Francis’ legacy will play a hand in the group of cardinals set to elect the next pope during the conclave. During the 12 years of his papacy, Francis picked 108 of the 135 members in the College of Cardinals who are under the age of 80 and eligible to cast a vote on his successor.
More than 20 come from developing countries like Rwanda, Tonga, Myanmar, Mongolia and South Sudan that had never previously had a cardinal. Francis, who often stressed that the church should not be so Eurocentric during his pontificate, also overlooked vacancies in major European cities in favor of minorities. While the majority, 39% of cardinals, hail from Europe, the second largest group, 20%, comes from Asia and Oceania.
With so many now owing their positions to Francis, it remains to be seen whether the cardinals will elect a non-European successor, one who follows a similar progressive reform agenda or lean more toward the church’s conservative wing.
Conversations among the cardinals during the daily congregations, while highly secretive, can often sway decisions on who should be the next pope. After a complex voting process, the only sign given to the public that the new pope has been chosen is a white smoke emerging from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
Reporting from Vatican City
There isn’t a cloud in the sky above the hundreds of visitors crossing St. Peter’s Square. Those who are too tired take a break in the shade of the colonnade that surrounds the square, while others shield themselves from the hot Rome sun with umbrellas.
“We’re not only here to pray for Francis, but also for our families,” said Felipe Banfi, from Sorriso, Brazil, who came with his partner, Daniel Zavareze.
Zavareze, placing a photo of his family beside the candles and flowers lining the base of one of the lampposts, said, “My relatives asked me to do it, so that those who come here might also pray for them. It’s a sacred place.”
Daniel Zavareze after placing a photo of his family in St. Peter’s Square.Chiara Sgreccia / NBC News
He explains that Pope Francis was especially important to his mother who, after recovering from being hospitalized with Covid, visited the Vatican, where the pope said hello to her from the Popemobile.
“It was a moment that left a deep mark on her life. Since her recovery, she has felt very grateful to him,” he says, before he and Banfi head toward the necropolis beneath the Basilica.
Countries have declared states of mourning in honor of Pope Francis, ordering flags to be lowered and holding memorials.
Spain, Cuba, India and Lebanon declared three days of mourning in honor of the pontiff.
Italy declared five days of national mourning through Saturday. Argentina, where Francis hailed from, will observe seven days of mourning, as will Brazil.
President Donald Trump ordered all federal and state flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of Francis. Similarly, Britain, Australia and Japan all lowered flags.
Reporting from Vatican City
A few meters from the obelisk at the center of St. Peter’s Square that symbolizes the eternal power of the church, visitors to the Vatican make their way out of St. Peter’s Basilica and approach staff from L’Osservatore Romano, who are distributing special editions of the Vatican’s daily newspaper.
The special issue, released yesterday, commemorated Pope Francis on the day of his death.
A man holds a copy of a special edition of the Vatican newspaper in St. Peter’s Square today.Antonio Masiello / Getty Images
Among those picking up a copy is Milwaulk Anthony Navarrosa, a student priest from the Archdiocese of Cadiz in the Philippines. He came to the Vatican to see the body of Francis: “It wasn’t possible today, but I’ll return tomorrow,” he says as he rolls up the newspaper in his hands.
Navarrosa, who is currently writing his thesis on the pope’s 2016 encyclical “Amoris Laetitia,” recalls meeting Francis in 2021 and says he had hoped to meet him again. “I’m not worried about the future of the church, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit,” he says.
Less concerned about the future of the church but more about that of the entire world are William Koziel and John Whitehouse, 67 and 64, who have just come out of the Vatican post office on the side of the square.
“My wife sent a postcard home,” says Whitehouse, who is from Chicago, “to remember these days in the Vatican.”
He adds that their trip to the Vatican had been long planned, “but we’re very grateful to be here at such an important moment.”
At a time that Whitehouse says is filled with hatred and politics that seeks consensus by dividing humanity, Francis “instead sought to unite people,” he says, adding, “that’s why we’re worried about the future of the world now that he’s gone.”
Tomorrow
Pope Francis’ body will be moved in a procession from the Chapel of the Santa Marta residence to St. Peter’s Basilica tomorrow for public viewing.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell will preside over the rite, which will start at 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) with a moment of prayer.
Francis’ coffin will then be carried in a procession that will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs, exit through the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square and into the basilica through the central door. Patriarchs and cardinals, archbishops and bishops, canons and other priests will take part in the procession.
Once there, his coffin will be placed facing the pews with the Paschal candle nearby, not on an elevated bier.
After the liturgy, Francis will lie in state through Saturday.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin prays yesterday in front of the body of Pope Francis inside his private chapel at the Vatican. Vatican Media / AP
Saturday
The funeral for Francis will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) in St. Peter’s Square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the funeral Mass.
The pope’s body will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then on to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for entombment.
Cardinals this morning held their first of what will be many daily meetings, cloistered away from the Vatican crowds as they firm up plans for Pope Francis’ funeral, which will be held Saturday, and the ensuing conclave.
The meetings — today’s began at 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) and lasted around 90 minutes — will take place each day until the beginning of the conclave at which cardinals will elect the next pontiff.
Video footage from Reuters shows various cardinals in traditional black cassocks arriving at the Paul VI Hall, filing past Swiss Guards wearing yellow, blue and red striped uniforms with morion helmets.
The cardinals are greeted by an official who hands them dossiers. Inside an auditorium, many can be seen taking maroon leather seats and chatting, before standing to pray and begin the meeting.
Cardinal Silvano Tomasi arrives in St. Peter’s Square today.Francisco Seco / AP
In such daily congregations, the cardinals will plan for the funeral, the lying-in state, and a conclave next month where they will elect a new head of the Catholic Church. While speaking during the meetings about the papal candidates is frowned upon, those discussions are likely to take place in private behind closed doors.
During this time, the cardinals — many of whom will have never met — will also discuss the challenges that the new pope is expected to face and get to know each other.
The Italian government declared five days of national mourning that begin today and will last until Saturday, when Francis’ funeral will be held outside St. Peter’s Basilica.
During national mourning, flags are flown at half-staff and schools observe a minute’s silence, while government officials are obliged to cancel all their appointments.
Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi in a post on Instagram yesterday paid tribute to the pope, who was a lifelong fan of football, as well as a fan of Messi.
The two met at the Vatican in 2013 during a private audience, where they appeared to exchange gifts.
“A distinguished Argentinian Pope,” Messi said in a caption under a photo of the two together. He added, “RIP Pope Francis. Thank you for making the world a better place: we will miss you.”
Francis and Messi both hail from Argentina, where all football matches scheduled for yesterday were postponed as a mark of respect for the late pope.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov in a press briefing today said “there are no such plans” for Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday.
He did not clarify whether the Kremlin had received an invitation to the service, adding that there was “no decision yet” on who would represent Russia in Vatican City.
Vatican Pool via Getty Images file
Putin sent his “most sincere” condolences to senior cardinals on the pontiff’s death, the Kremlin said yesterday.
Francis and Putin met three times in person, but ties between the two became strained after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with the pope publicly chastising Patriarch Kirill of Moscow for supporting the war.
Reporting from Vatican City
A huge crowd is present today at St. Peter’s Basilica as mourners from across the globe gather to pay tribute to Pope Francis.
“We left from Lecce yesterday as soon as we heard of the death of Pope Francis,” said Sister Francois Voahirana, 49, a member of the Congregation of the Disciples of the Sacred Heart. She was joined by four other nuns from the same congregation.
“After Easter, we thought he was doing better, we didn’t expect his death. But he did so much in his life, so many wonderful things. He’s finished his service, and now he will rest in the arms of Jesus,” she added.
Chiara Sgreccia
They were waiting their turn to enter alongside tourists from Canada, the U.S., Peru and the Philippines.
“We’ll come again tomorrow to say goodbye to Francis,” said Sister Francois, referring to the fact that Francis’ body will be inside the Basilica tomorrow.
Marcello Pisicchio, 58, head of the operational emergencies association of the Italian civil protection service, noted today’s crowd is “very large.”
“We expect a big turnout in the coming days as well, certainly until the funeral. We’re here every day, 24 hours a day,” Pisicchio added.
In 2020, Grace Enjei fled war-torn Cameroon for Cyprus in hopes of eventually reaching Europe, and with Francis’ help, eventually settled in Italy. Days after arriving in Italy, Grace was unexpectedly invited to celebrate Francis’ birthday at the Vatican.
The president of East Timor, a predominantly Catholic Southeast Asian island nation north of Australia, said the pope’s death was a tremendous loss for the whole world, not just Christians.
Almost half of East Timor’s 1.3 million citizens — only Vatican City has a higher percentage of Catholics than East Timor does— attended a Mass that Francis presided over last year, when he became the first pope to visit after the country achieved independence from Indonesia in 2002.
“He leaves behind a profound legacy of humanity, of justice, of human fraternity, a tremendous loss for the world, not only for Christians,” President José Ramos-Horta told Reuters.
Ramos-Horta said flags will be flown at half-staff for one week to mark Francis’ death.
The doors of Pope Francis’ apartment on the second floor of Casa Santa Marta and the papal apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace were sealed last night with a red ribbon and wax.
It’s a ritual rooted in centuries of Catholic tradition, which formalized the end of Francis’ pontificate and followed an official declaration of death which was validated by the Camerlengo, or the acting head of the Vatican, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
A number of world leaders have already confirmed their attendance at the funeral of Pope Francis that will be held Saturday.
President Donald Trump in a post on Truth Social yesterday said he would travel to Vatican City alongside first lady Melania Trump.
He will be joined by the French President Emmanuel Macron, who confirmed his attendance to reporters yesterday. E.U. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also confirmed her attendance today.
In Francis’ birth country of Argentina, President Javier Milei said within hours of the pope’s death that he will attend the funeral service, while the Brazilian government said in a statement yesterday that President Lula Da Silva and first lady Janja Lula da Silva will make the trip to the Vatican.
In a rare moment of unity, leaders across the Middle-East expressed their condolences for Pope Francis.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun described Francis as a “dear friend and strong supporter” of his country, who “carried Lebanon in his heart and prayers.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian highlighted Francis’ calls to end the war in Gaza, with Hamas also hailing pope’s opposition to the war.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog recalled Francis’ prayers for peace in the Middle East, saying in a post on X, “he dedicated his life to uplifting the poor and calling for peace in a troubled world.”
Qatari leader Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sent messages of condolences to the Vatican.
Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend Francis’ funeral this Saturday with First Lady Olena Zelenska, his office told NBC News on Tuesday.
Although the pontiff regularly called for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has a majority Orthodox Christian population, he angered Ukrainians when he last year called on Kyiv to have the courage of the “white flag” and sue for peace with Russia.
In a tribute to Francis on Monday, Zelenskyy said millions of people around the world were “mourning the tragic news” of his passing.
“He knew how to give hope, ease suffering through prayer, and foster unity,” he said in a post on X, adding, “He prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians.”
“Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something,” Pope Francis wrote in the preface for a new book by Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop Emeritus of Milan, titled “Awaiting a New Beginning: Reflections on Old Age.”
The preface, which was written early February, was released by the Vatican Publishing House and published in the Vatican News today.
Nuns embrace outside the Vatican this morning. Susana Vera / Reuters
“It is a new beginning, as the title wisely highlights, because eternal life—which those who love already begin to experience on earth within the daily tasks of life—is beginning something that will never end,” Francis wrote.
“And it is precisely for this reason that it is a ‘new’ beginning, because we will live something we have never fully lived before: eternity,” he wrote.
China expressed its condolences over the death of Francis, who ended a decades-long dispute between the Vatican and Beijing by accepting seven bishops the Chinese government had named without the pope’s consent.
Critics of the 2018 deal accused the Vatican of selling out to communist China, where the government tightly regulates religious activity. The Vatican countered that it was important for improving relations with China, which is estimated to have as many as 12 million Catholics.
“In recent years, China and the Vatican have maintained constructive engagement, conducted useful exchanges, and the provisional agreement regarding the agreement of bishops between China and the Vatican is mostly implemented,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular briefing today in Beijing. “China stands ready to work with the Vatican for continued improvement of China-Vatican ties.”
Guo did not say whether China had been invited to Francis’ funeral or would send a representative.
In the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, there are plans for a service and a liturgy so the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong’s 400,000 worshippers can pay their respects to the pontiff.
Kevin Farrell, an American cardinal, became the acting head of the Vatican following the death of Pope Francis. The Dublin-born cleric was naturalized as a U.S. citizen after spending many years in the country.
Kevin Farrell in 2016.Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images file
Farrell was incardinated in the archdiocese of Washington in the 1984 and is the former Bishop of Dallas. Francis proclaimed Farrell a Cardinal in 2016 and, in 2023, appointed him as the president of Vatican’s Supreme Court.
Right now, the cardinal holds the position of chamberlain, or camerlengo, leaving him in charge of the administration and finances of the Holy See during the interregnum — the period between one pope’s death and his successor’s election.
While he’s also in charge of making the arrangements for the conclave, the poll of cardinals that chooses the next pope, his temporary position as chamberlain does not bar him from the papacy.
As bells tolled in churches around the Philippines, which Francis visited in 2015, thousands of worshipers gathered there to pray and reflect on the pontiff’s legacy.
“As we mourn his passing, we honor a life that brought hope and compassion to so many and inspired us to love one another as Christ loved us,” wrote Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the President of the Philippines, in a post on Facebook.
Philippines is home to the world’s third-largest Catholic population, with around 80% of the population identifying as Catholic, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Cardinal Luis Tagle there is among the leading candidates to succeed Francis.
National flags were flown at half-staff today in Japan, which Francis visited in 2019. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the government’s top spokesperson, noted that during that trip Francis visited the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the U.S. dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War II, and called for a “world without nuclear weapons.”
Devotees inside Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea today. Anthony Wallace / Pool via Getty Images
India, home to over 20 million Catholics, said it will also fly national flags at half-mast while declaring a three-day national mourning period.
Seoul’s Archdiocese said a memorial altar will be set up at the Myeondong Cathedral this afternoon for the public to pay tribute to Francis, who visited South Korea just a year into his papacy in 2014.
The body of Pope Francis is being displayed in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel in Vatican City, after his death yesterday at the age of 88. Francis is shown in a wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter.
Pope Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), the Vatican has said, with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presiding over the funeral liturgy.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated in the churchyard of the St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said, adding the pontiff’s body will be taken to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.
The coffin containing Francis’s body will be taken to St. Peter’s Basilica tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), the Vatican has said.
A procession will pass through Saint Martha’s Square, then into Saint Peter’s Square before entering the Basilica.
In a message of condolence, the archbishop for the Archdiocese of Suva in Fiji said he was “touched by Pope Francis’ ministry” while accompanying him on a visit last year to Papua New Guinea, another Pacific island nation.
Francis made his historic Asia-Pacific trip despite concerns about his health and spent much of the visit in a wheelchair. “He embraced his own vulnerability as he often asked people to pray for him,” Archbishop Peter Loy Chong said in a statement.
Chong said Francis also “gave a message of hope and challenge” to the people of Oceania, where climate change threatens some countries’ very existence.
“He said, Oceania is far out in the ocean, distant from the rest of the world but at the center of God’s heart,” Chong said. “The Pope’s care for the Ocean resonates with the scientific view that if we care for the earth, the ocean is the first ecosystem that we should protect.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marked the pope’s death by pausing election campaigning and attending a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
“The holy father was one of the most consequential leaders of this century and of our lifetime. He was, indeed, the people’s pope,” Albanese, who was educated at Catholic schools, told reporters this morning as early voting began in the May 3 federal election.
Government flags will fly at half-staff as a sign of respect, the Australian leader said.
Vatican Media via AFP – Getty Images
Vatican Media via AFP – Getty Images
Images taken yesterday and released this morning, show Pope Francis in an open coffin at the Chapel of Santa Marta in the Vatican.
In Pope Francis’ birth country of Argentina, the obelisk of Buenos Aires was last night illuminated with a projection of the deceased pontiff bearing the phrase in Spanish that translates as “pray for me.”
Marcelo Endelli / Getty Images
Marcelo Endelli / Getty Images
The death of Pope Francis is deeply personal for many in the U.S., who felt a connection to the first pope from the Americas. NBC News’ Erin McLaughlin shares the highlights of the pontiff’s visit to the U.S. in 2015.
Dust off the history books and there are papal conclaves with international intrigue, royal rigging and even riots, a checkered past that belies the air of sanctity and solemnity surrounding modern papal elections.
The word “conclave” comes from the Latin for “with key.” It is a church tradition that began in 1268 with a papal election that lasted almost three years, ending only when the townspeople of Viterbo locked up the cardinals, tore the roof off their palace, fed them nothing but bread and water and threatened them until a new pope was chosen.
While it is very unlikely the decision on Pope Francis’ successor will take quite as long or be quite as contentious, Vatican watchers agree that the winner is not a foregone conclusion.
“The great joy of the conclave is that nobody really knows and it’s such a unique electorate,” James Somerville-Meikle, the former deputy director of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, told NBC News before Francis’ death. “So many conclaves in the past have thrown up surprises.”
In life, Pope Francis strayed from the more conservative path forged by his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict.
But in death, Francis will be following in many of John Paul’s footsteps.
The demise of the first Argentine to lead the Roman Catholic Church set into motion a series of rituals, some of which go back more than 2,000 years and have been used to bury more than 250 popes.
They are compiled in a more than 400-page tome called the “Ordo exsequiarum Romani pontificis,” which includes the liturgy, music and prayers used for papal funerals over the centuries.
“The Ordo covers the rituals that are followed from the moment a pope dies to the moment a pope is buried,” said the Rev. David Collins, an associate professor and the director of Catholic studies at Georgetown University.
From working as a bouncer at a Buenos Aires nightclub to presiding over the Vatican, the path Pope Francis forged as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church was as unlikely as it was unprecedented.
Francis, who died Monday at age 88, was keen to flex his muscles as supreme pontiff. He angered some Catholic Church traditionalists by reaching out to gay and marginalized people, demanding justice for the poor and the dispossessed and railing against unbridled capitalism and climate change.
As the first pope from the Americas, Francis was in many ways the ultimate Vatican outsider who charted a new and more liberal course as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“He embarked on a real reorganization of the church and a real reorientation of the church after four decades of conservative theologians’ leading the way,” said David Gibson, director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture.
