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The Catholic world is gripped with uncertainty as Pope Francis, 88, remains in critical condition in a Rome hospital because of a complex lung infection and other serious ailments.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, the Vatican said in a short statement that the pope had \u201ca peaceful night and is resting,\u201d following statements earlier in the week that he was responding to therapy and showing slight improvement.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know about his condition, and about how things would go should he die.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Francis\u2019 initial respiratory tract infection has developed into pneumonia in both lungs, and other complications have emerged during his hospital stay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He had a respiratory crisis that has resulted in his having to receive high flows of supplemental oxygen. On Sunday, the Vatican announced that he was suffering from \u201cinitial, mild kidney failure,\u201d which was \u201cunder control.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He is being treated with various drugs, and his doctors have said that calibrating them has been a challenge.<\/p>\n
Given his age and history of lung disease, doctors have been guarded about his prognosis.<\/p>\n
While Francis\u2019 fate is still unclear, what is more certain are the time-honored rituals that were drafted and refined over the centuries to ensure secrecy and an orderly transition. The carefully choreographed pageantry provides order to a church in its most dramatic moment of flux.<\/p>\n
A pope\u2019s death is immediately confirmed by the head of the Vatican\u2019s health department and the cardinal chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, who becomes the Vatican\u2019s de facto administrator. The pope\u2019s body is dressed in a white cassock and brought to the pope\u2019s private chapel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The cardinal chamberlain, camerlengo in Italian, is a position now held by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell<\/a>, a 77-year-old American of Irish origin. He and other officials, along with members of the pope\u2019s family, congregate in the chapel for a ceremony. The body is placed in a coffin made of wood and lined with zinc. The pope is dressed in red, his miter and pallium placed next to him.<\/p>\n After the ceremony, the camerlengo drafts a document authenticating the pope\u2019s death, affixing the doctor\u2019s report. He secures the pontiff\u2019s private papers and seals his apartments, which in the case of Francis are a large section of the second floor at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican City guesthouse used by visiting cardinals, where Francis has lived throughout his papacy.<\/p>\n He also arranges for the destruction of the so-called fisherman\u2019s ring, used by the pope to seal documents, with a ceremonial hammer, to prevent forgeries.<\/p>\n Francis has brought an unpretentious style to the church \u2014 rejecting elaborate outfits and the ornate papal apartments. His plans keep that up to the end, scaling back some of the funerary pomp and ceremony.<\/p>\n In rewriting the funeral rites in 2024, Francis simplified several elements<\/a>. Since the 13th century, the bodies of popes have gone on public view, their embalmed bodies placed on a raised pedestal. When John Paul II died in 2005<\/a>, his body was first brought to the Apostolic Palace within hours for a private viewing for cardinals, bishops and other members of the church hierarchy, as well as prominent Italian officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Francis has done away with that sort of viewing. Instead, a public viewing will take place directly in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, where thousands have thronged to pay respects to popes in the past. But his body will remain in the coffin, which will not be on a raised pedestal. \u201cFrancis decided to highlight humility over glorification,\u201d said Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, a church historian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The College of Cardinals decides on the day and hour that the pope\u2019s body will be brought to St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, in a procession led by the camerlengo, and on when the viewing will commence.<\/p>\n The funeral and burial of the pope are supposed to take place four to six days after his death, and funeral rites in various churches in Rome will last nine days.<\/p>\n Past popes were put in three nested coffins, one of cypress, one of zinc and one of elm. But as part of Francis\u2019 rule change, he decreed that he would be buried in a single coffin, made of wood and lined in zinc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The coffin is closed the night before the funeral. The pope\u2019s face is covered by a white silk veil, and he is buried with a bag containing coins minted during his papacy and a canister with a \u201crogito,\u201d or deed, briefly listing details of his life and papacy. The rogito is read aloud before the coffin is closed.<\/p>\n The new rules also allow for a pope to be buried in a church other than St. Peter\u2019s Basilica. Francis has asked to be buried instead in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a church dear to him and one he often visited to pray in front of an icon of the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n Within 15 to 20 days of the pope\u2019s death, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re,<\/a> 91, will summon the cardinals to Rome for what is known as a conclave to elect Francis\u2019 successor.<\/p>\n The period between the death of a pope and the election of a new one is called the sede vacante, or \u201cthe seat is vacant.\u201d During that time, the College of Cardinals keeps general oversight of the church, but it is barred from making any major decisions.<\/p>\n When the cardinals meet, they gather in the Sistine Chapel. All cardinal electors must swear an oath of secrecy and vote by secret ballot. Only cardinals under age 80<\/a> are eligible to vote. A two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope, and politicking is part of the process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cardinals are not allowed to leave the conclave except in rare cases. The word conclave \u2014 from the Latin \u201cwith key\u201d \u2014 refers to the isolation imposed on them, which is meant keep the electoral process from dragging on.<\/p>\nPaying Respects<\/h2>\n
The Funeral<\/h2>\n
The Conclave<\/h2>\n