Pope Francis waves from the main balcony of St. Peter's basilica for the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter's square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)

Pope Francis waves from the main balcony of St. Peter’s basilica for the Urbi et Orbi message and blessing to the city and the world as part of Easter celebrations, at St Peter’s square in the Vatican on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

What we’re covering

• Pope Francis, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years, has died. He was 88 years old.

• Francis brought a humbler, more forward-looking approach to the Vatican and worked to ease the Catholic Church’s rhetoric on social issues like homosexuality, the death penalty and the role of women.

• His death will prompt a period of mourning, after which all cardinals under the age of 80 will convene to pick the next leader of the Catholic Church. It typically takes between two and three weeks for a new Pope to be chosen.

What happens next after the Pope’s death?

From CNN’s Rob Picheta

The death of Pope Francis has triggered a period of a mourning in the Vatican and signals the start of a millennia-old process of picking a new pontiff.

It is a procedure steeped in tradition, but one which has been subtly updated for the modern world.

The “Papal Interregnum” — the period between the death of one pope and the election of another — began when Francis passed away.

Cardinals must now decide exactly when the funeral can take place, and after that, when conclave can begin. But much of the timeline is predetermined; the pope’s death triggered the start of nine days of mourning known as the Novendiales, and the pope must be buried between the fourth and sixth day after death.

The body of the pope must also be displayed at St. Peter’s Basilica for mourning, and a mass will take place on each day. Mourners lined up for miles to see the body of Pope John Paul II, the last serving pope to die, in 2005.

Then, all cardinals under the age of 80 will convene in the Vatican to pick Francis’ successor.

It typically takes between two and three weeks for a pope to be chosen, following the death of his predecessor, though it can stretch slightly beyond that if cardinals struggle to agree on a candidate.