What happens next after Pope Francis' funeral as Cardinals move to elect new Pope
Topics: Pope Francis, World News, Religion
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Franco Origlia
Topics: Pope Francis, World News, Religion
On Saturday (April 26) the funeral of Pope Francis took place in Rome, with world leaders from across the globe gathering to celebrate the life of the pontiff.
World leaders gathered to pay their respects at the service in Rome, including US President Donald Trump, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of France Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister of the UK, Keir Starmer. Trump was joined by his wife and First Lady, Melania, and the royal family's Prince William was also in attendance for the proceedings.
Following the service, attention will turn to what happens next, and specifically, who will be elected as the next Pope.
The next Pope will be elected by a group of senior Catholic clergy called the College of Cardinals.
The group come together in something called a papal conclave, where the clergy vote up to four times a day in a secret ballot in the Sistine Chapel.
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There are over 240 cardinals worldwide and the number of papal electors is typically capped at 120. Cardinals are also only allowed to vote if under the age of 80 - the title typically held for their lifetime.
The conclave will traditionally begin after a two-week mourning period.
Although any baptised man can technically be elected as the next Pope, it is usually a cardinal.
Following each round of voting, ballot cards are burned and chemicals added, which provide a black or white tinted smoke.
If black smoke emerges from the chimney, the ballot has not been successful in electing the new Pope.
However, if white smoke emerges, the vote has been conclusive and a new Pope has been elected.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website notes the process typically lasts from around 15 to 20 days, as quoted by The Independent.
Despite the process being pretty secretive, there are a number of names that are reported to be in the running.
An American prelate of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Burke is both a bishop and cardinal.
Pope Francis supported the church's changing attitudes towards gay people and becoming more accepting, however, Burke reportedly opposes such movements.
The Hungarian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Erdö is considered the leading conservative candidate.
"His emphasis on unity and his role as a bridge between East and West have solidified his standing as a significant Church leader," The College of Cardinals report states.
A Portuguese prelate, Cardinal Mendonça became a cardinal in October 2019.
He's been a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic since 2020 and was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology in September 2022.
The Holy See's Secretary of State, Italy's Cardinal Parolin was a close ally to Pope Francis.
He's served in the position of the Vatican's Secretary of State since 2013 and 'sensed a call to the priesthood at a very early age and entered the seminary in Vicenza when he was fourteen,' The College of Cardinals report states.
The Italian prelate has served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since November 2020.
He holds 'a disdain for clericalism and a concern for migrants, interreligious dialogue and, to some extent, the environment', alongside believing the Church should be open to everyone, however, he notes the 'starting point has to be faith'.
Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, the Spanish prelate has served in the position since March 2018.
Cardinal Romerto has dedicated a lot of his work to advocating for the wellbeing of migrants.
A Filipino prelate of the church, Cardinal Tagle was the former archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2020.
He's been serving as Pro-Prefect for the Section of First Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization since June 2022, and as the President of Interdicasterial Commission for Consecrated Religious since December 2019.
Archbishop of Bologna since December 2015, he was raised to the rank of cardinal in 2019 and has been president of the Episcopal Conference of Italy since May 2022.
Cardinal Zuppi helped end the civil war in Mozambique in 1992 and was sent to Kyiv and Moscow by Pope Francis in a bid to try and provide help amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.