Pope Francis died Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, after 12 years of pontificate. The pontiff was in Rome’s Casa Santa Marta, where he had been transferred after a hospitalization at Policlinico Gemelli. Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, broke the news: “At 7:35 a.m. the Bishop of Rome returned to the house of the Father.”
The passing of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected in March 2013, marks the end of a pontificate that profoundly renewed the Church.
An event of global significance
The pope’s death represents an event of exceptional significance both politically and spiritually. As head of state of Vatican City, his passing activates international diplomatic protocols, with heads of state and government coming to Rome to pay their respects. On a spiritual level, the world’s approximately 1.3 billion Catholics lose their leader, opening a period of reflection and anticipation for the new appointment.
The liturgy of the Pope’s death
With the Pontiff’s death comes the period of “sede vacante,” during which the Church is governed temporarily by the College of Cardinals. The protocol following the Pope’s death is regulated by the Apostolic Constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis,” promulgated by John Paul II in 1996. The main role in this phase is played by the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell (in office since 2019), who is in charge of administering the Holy See’s assets during the sede vacante and coordinating the procedures leading to the election of the new pontiff.
The ascertainment of death
Traditionally, the ascertainment of the Pope’s death followed a specific ritual: the camerlengo would call the Pontiff three times by his baptismal name while tapping his forehead with a silver hammer. Receiving no response, he would utter the phrase “Vere Papa mortuus est” (“The Pope is truly dead”). This ritual is documented until the death of Pius IX in 1878, but today the determination of death is made by medical certification. However, the Latin phrase is recorded in the death certificate drawn up by the Apostolic Chancery, formally beginning the sede vacante.
Immediately thereafter, seals are placed on the pontiff’s rooms and the camerlengo announces the death to the Vicar of Rome, who announces it to the world. A door leaf of St. Peter’s Basilica’s main door is half closed and the bells ring with hammer chimes as a sign of mourning.
The Novendiali and funeral preparations.
According to tradition, mourning for the death of a pope lasts nine days, during which “Novendiali,” masses in suffrage of the soul of the deceased, are celebrated. In the case of Pope Francis, the second Mass of the Novendials will be celebrated on Sunday, April 27 in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Celebrations will continue daily at 5 p.m.
During this time, the body is prepared: the body is dressed in pontifical vestments (white miter, red chasuble, white wool pallium with black crosses) and exposed to the veneration of the faithful.
The Particular Congregation and toward the Conclave
During the first General Congregation of Cardinals, held this morning, the three cardinals who make up the Commission that assists the camerlengo in ordinary decisions were drawn: Pietro Parolin, Stanisław Ryłko and Fabio Baggio, one for each order of which the College is composed (bishops, presbyters and deacons). This Commission is renewed every three days.
In order to proceed with the election of the new Pontiff, a minimum of fifteen days after death must be allowed for all the cardinal electors to arrive in Rome.
However, the Conclave, the closed-door meeting of the cardinal electors in the Sistine Chapel, must begin within twenty days of the beginning of the sede vacante.
The Pontiff’s funeral
Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica. As determined by the Office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations during the first General Congregation of Cardinals held this morning, the ceremony will follow the new arrangements established by Bergoglio himself in the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, updated in April 2024.
Pope Francis’ will
Last night Pope Francis’ testament, a document drafted at Santa Marta on June 29, 2022, was made public. In the text, introduced by his episcopal motto “Miserando atque Eligendo,” Bergoglio details his wishes on burial: “I ask that my tomb be prepared in the loculus of the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.”
The Pontiff wanted an extremely sober burial, specifying that “the tomb should be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus.”
In his last wishes, Francis also revealed that he had arranged for a benefactor to cover the expenses of his burial, entrusting the relevant instructions to Bishop Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Chapter.
The document concludes with a touching thought: “The suffering that became present in the last part of my life I offered to the Lord for world peace and brotherhood among peoples.”
The changes introduced by Pope Francis to the funeral ritual
Bergoglio has significantly modified the papal funeral ritual, opting for greater simplicity. According to the update of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis approved in April 2024, the Pope’s body will no longer be displayed on a catafalque, but directly in a simple open wooden coffin, “with dignity, but like every Christian.” Francis also simplified the ritual by providing for only one vigil instead of two and no ceremony for the closing of the coffin.
He also arranged to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he often went to pray, abandoning the traditional burial in the Vatican Grottoes under St. Peter’s.
The legacy of a revolutionary pontificate
Pope Francis leaves behind a spiritual legacy of humility, mercy and openness to dialogue, having transformed not only the face of the Church but also many of its centuries-old traditions, to include even the way in which pontiffs leave this world.
You can follow the arrival of the faithful in St. Peter’s Square live.