Cardinals meet Tuesday at Vatican to choose date for Pope Francis’ funeral

VATICAN CITY AP Cardinals will meet Tuesday at the Vatican to begin scheduling Pope Francis funeral and burial planning the conclave to elect his successor and making other decisions about running the Catholic Church as world leaders and the ordinary faithful grieve the pontiff s death Bulk at once they will determine when his body can be moved into St Peter s Basilica for general viewing Francis died Monday at age after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led his heart to fail He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia He made his last society appearance Sunday delivering an Easter blessing and making what would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile looping around St Peter s Square In retrospect his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first Latin American pope on March was a perfect bookend to a -year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest The Vatican publicized that the first meeting of the Congregation of Cardinals the gathering of the cardinals at present in Rome would occur Tuesday at a m in the Vatican s synod hall They could decide to allow general viewing of Francis as soon as Wednesday morning in St Peter s Basilica Under norms approved by Francis last year the funeral and burial must occur between Friday and Sunday In his final will Francis proven he would be buried at St Mary Major basilica which is outside the Vatican and home to his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary After every foreign trip Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary draped in a blue robe holding the infant Jesus who in turn holds a jeweled golden book Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March after his -day hospital stay to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon He returned April to pray before the Madonna for the last time The world reacts Bells tolled in chapels churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half staff in Italy India Taiwan and the U S after Francis death was informed by the Vatican camerlengo Soccer matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the Argentine pope who was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity Like every Argentine I think he was a rebel reported -year-old Catalina Favaro who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation He may have been contradictory but that was nice too In East Timor where Francis final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of the population last September President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis courage Papa Francisco was a brave man who was not afraid to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war but do not want to seek peace Ramos-Horta revealed He challenged the powerful to act with justice called nations to welcome the stranger and reminded us that our common home this Earth is a gift we must protect for future generations declared Nigeria s President Bola Tinubu who is Muslim Nigeria is Africa s most of populous country and has around million Catholics representing about of the total population Viewing the pope s coffin The pope s formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace were sealed Monday evening following a centuries-old ritual Cardinal Kevin Farrell who as camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause was determined presided over the ritual Francis chose not to live in the palace though but in the Domus Santa Marta hotel on the other side of Vatican City He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby where a private viewing was being held Tuesday for Vatican bureaucrats and members of the pontifical household In changes made by Francis last year his body was not placed in three wooden coffins as it had been for previous popes Rather Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside Once in St Peter s his coffin will not be put on an elevated bier but will just be be placed just facing the pews with the Pasqual candle nearby Funeral and burial The burial must take place between the fourth and sixth day after his death meaning a likely date is Saturday or Sunday U S President Donald Trump has revealed he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected The funeral will be presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals or if that is not doable by the vice dean or another senior cardinal The current dean is Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re The vice dean is Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri Re and Farrell the camerlengo will have key roles in the coming days as they summon the cardinals and prepare for the conclave to elect Francis successor Choosing the next pope After the funeral there are nine days of official mourning known as the novendiali During this period cardinals arrive in Rome to participate in meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope To give everyone time to assemble the conclave must begin - days after the sede vacante the vacant See is declared although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree Once the conclave begins cardinals vote in secret sessions After voting sessions the ballots are burned in a special stove Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins If he accepts his ballot is communicated by a cardinal from the loggia of St Peter s Basilica who announces Habemus Papam Latin for We have a pope Associated Press religion coverage receives help through the AP s collaboration with The 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