Pope Francis dies: How will a new pope be elected?

At 9:45 AM on Easter Monday, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, spoke these words at the Casa Santa Marta:

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome,…

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 21, 2025

Pope Francis was hospitalised on February 14, following complications from bronchitis and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia four days later. He spent over a month in medical care before returning to his residence to continue his recovery.

Since 1415, all popes except one have died in office. Benedict XVI, Francis’s predecessor who assumed the papacy in 2005, retired in 2013, citing a “lack of strength of mind and body”.

The transfer of power

Detailed laws and rituals, some dating back to the Middle Ages, govern the transfer of power from one pope to the next. The passing of the pontiff triggers the Interregnum, the intervening period between two papacies.

The death is verified by the camerlengo, the cardinal who serves as the treasurer of the Church. He ceremonially calls out the Pope’s baptismal name thrice – and pronounces him dead if no response is received.

The Ring of the Fisherman, the Pope’s signet ring bearing the seal of his papacy, is broken off to symbolise the end of his rule. The papal apartment is locked and sealed, and the camerlengo informs the College of Cardinals that the Pope is no more. The Novendiale, or nine days of mourning, follows.

The Pope’s body is dressed in papal regalia and placed for public viewing in St Peter’s Basilica. In 2022, Pope Francis arranged for his body to be placed in a simple coffin, dispensing with the three coffins made of cypress, lead, and oak that are traditionally used.

The funeral is held within four to six days, and is led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals. Most popes are buried underneath St Peter’s Basilica, but Pope Francis decided in 2022 that he should be buried away from the Vatican, in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.

Sede Vacante

With the passing or resignation of the Pope begins the period of Sede Vacante, meaning “the seat is vacant”, during which the rule of the Church falls to the College.

Within 15-20 days, cardinals under age 80 arrive from all over the world to participate in the papal conclave, the secret election process to determine a successor.

The cardinals, who are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, vote in several rounds until a single candidate enjoys a two-thirds majority. For each round of voting that does not yield a Pope, black smoke is released from the chapel; white smoke signals the election of a new Pope.

A representative from the College of Cardinals stands in the main balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and announces “Habemus papam (We have a Pope)” to the gathered crowd of faithful. The new Pope, who chooses a name that usually honours a saint or a predecessor, then delivers his first address to the public from the balcony.

The office of the Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and the visible head of the Catholic Church, which regards Jesus Christ as its invisible head. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, and his office is called the Papacy. The papacy oversees the Holy See, the central governing body of the Church and Vatican City, which enjoys formal diplomatic relations with other nations.

Who was Pope Francis?

Pope Francis was the 266th pope, in a lineage dating back to Saint Peter in 30 CE. He assumed the papacy on March 13, 2013, taking over from Pope Benedict XVI.

He was the first South American Pope and the first from the Jesuit order. He was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 in Buenos Aires, and was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1969. He became a bishop in 1992 and the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998.

Pope Francis was viewed as a moderate. In the past, he said the Church should apologise to gay people and opposed trickle-down free-market economic policies. At the same time, he opposed gay marriage, said no to women priests and described abortion as the ‘most horrific’ of crimes.

He stepped into office as the Church faced the fallout of the Vatileaks scandal, the leak of confidential documents exposing corruption in the Vatican. As pope, he has aimed at reform within the church, weeding out corruption and “tragic instances of child abuse” that he described in 2024 as a stain on the Church’s legacy.

According to Francesca Ambrogetti, who co-authored the biography ‘Pope Francis: His Life in His Own Words’ and spoke to Reuters, Francis has been well-regarded for his “sober and austere” lifestyle.

In India, four cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in a papal conclave. These cardinals are: Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, Cardinal Cleemis Baselios, Cardinal Anthony Poola, and Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad. Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who is over 80, is not eligible to vote.

This is an updated version of an explainer first published on February 24.