What happens when a pope dies? How the next pope is chosen and how the process works

Hours after making his final public appearance Easter Sunday at St Peter's Square, Pope Francis, who had been recovering from double pneumonia, died, the Vatican announced. He was 88.

Following the pope's death, a period of mourning and a funeral will take place. After that comes a centuries-old, secretive process known as a conclave, where more than 100 cardinals will meet to decide Francis' successor.

"Dearest brothers and sisters," Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said in a statement, "It is with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father."

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The trailblazing Roman Catholic pontiff, who was born on Dec. 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, became the pope at the age of 76 in 2013, when he took over after Pope Benedict resigned -- a move unknown among modern-day popes and one that set up the sometimes tense situation where a pope and a pope emeritus were both alive. 

Now that Francis has died, here's what happens next.

What happens once a pope dies?

When a pope dies, the first event that takes place is the papal funeral in Rome, which typically occurs within four to six days of the death. The Dean of the College of Cardinals will presides over the funeral Mass.

"We haven't heard any official word from the Vatican on when that will happen," NBC News' Anne Thompson said.

NBC 5's Mary Ann Ahern indicated the funeral could take place later this week or over the weekend, though they don't typically take place on a Sunday.

Cardinals from around the world come to Rome for the funeral, but not all do. Following the funeral is a period called the "congregations," where the cardinal electors get together for speeches, Thompson said.

"While they're all cardinals, they really don't know each other, and they have to get to know each other," Thompson said.

15 days later, there will be a conclave, when cardinal electors to into the Sistine Chapel and spend days voting on who will be the next pope.

Who will be the next pope? How a conclave works

A pope’s resignation or death triggers a centuries-old, secretive process of succession and requires what’s known as a conclave. Such a gathering of Catholic cardinals from around the world has been depicted by the 2024 Hollywood movie with the same name.

"It's always Hollywood, but there are some realities in that," NBC 5's Mary Ann Ahern said. "They do go into the Sistine Chapel, they give up all of their phones, they give up any kind of way to communicate, and they meet."

The Cardinals vote three times each day to decide who will be the next pope, Ahern said. The process could take up two to three days.

"If there is a vote of no, you see gray smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel," Ahern added. "If they have a majority vote, the smoke is white. And every time there is a smoke, everyone runs to gather outside the square to see."

Within the half hour, the new pope appears at the square, Ahern said.

According to Ahern, there are some 136 Cardinals from around the world that will participate.

"You have to be under the age of 83," Ahern added.

Three of the Cardinals have Chicago ties, Ahern said: Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Catholic Archbishop of Chicago; Wilton Gregory, who had been the Cardinal of Atlanta, and Robert Prevost; who currently holds a Vatican position.

"They will all vote on the next pope," Ahern said. "Will they choose someone like Francis, or will they turn the page and go back to someone who is more conservative?"

Ahern noted that some names have been floated already.

"Don't trust any of the lists," Ahern said. "Wait until you see the smoke. The white smoke tells us."

There are nearly 3.2 million Roman Catholics in the greater Chicago area and Northwest Indiana - at several dioceses and hundreds of parishes and schools, and more than 1.2 billion Roman Catholics across the world.

When did Francis become pope?

Francis was born on Dec. 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, according to the Catholic News Agency. His father was a railway worker who had immigrated to Argentina from Italy. His mother’s family also of Italian origin.

He was ordained a priest in 1969 as a Jesuit and served as the rector of a seminary, a pastor and a professor before he became the pope at the age of 76 in 2013, when he took over after Pope Benedict resigned, a move unknown among modern-day popes and one that set up the sometimes tense situation where a pope and a pope emeritus were both alive. 

He was the first Latin American and the first Jesuit. 

His choice was unexpected. When he was introduced from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, there was a gasp from the crowd, followed by applause, according to NBC News. In Italian, he joked, "As you know the duty of the conclave is to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world."

As pope he took the name of the Catholic friar St. Francis of Assisi, known for his life of poverty.

Francis was described by NBC News as a conservative with “great compassion.” During his time as pope, he did not change church doctrine but did steer the church in a new direction. 

He encouraged priests to welcome divorced Catholics, gay and lesbian couples and those who were living together without being married. He invited members of a transgender community south of Rome as his guests to a luncheon lunch to mark the church’s World Day of the Poor. When challenged by conservative cardinals to affirm teaching on homosexuality, he suggested that the could be a way to bless same-sex unions, The Associated Press reported.

Francis refocused the papacy on such issues as the environment, migrants, and  equality and away from other more contentious topics. He rejected the luxurious trappings of the Vatican, embraced the poor and criticized a church that he said had become obsessed with abortion, gay marriage and contraception.

Traditionalist objected to Francis’ progressive reforms, which they viewed as contrary to church teachings. In 2018, the former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, called on Francis to resign. 

A decade into his papacy, Francis criticized what he called the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the church in the U.S., accusing them of replaced faith with ideology, The AP reported. 

He removed a bishop from his position in the diocese of Tyler, Texas, Joseph Strickland, who had been a fierce critic of Francis and who wrote in a tweet that he had been “undermining the deposit of faith.”

Then Francis ousted another outspoken opponent to his reforms, Cardinal Raymond Burke, from his Vatican apartment and revoked his salary. 

The pope was forced to cancel an address at the U.N. climate conference in Dubai because of a lung inflammation. He only had one fully functioning lung after his other lung was partially removed due to an infection when he was a teenager. He had had a series of medical issues in recent years, with problems with his knee, trouble with sciatica and surgery for a hernia and his colon.