Vatican marks final day of mourning for Pope Francis before conclave begins

Sunday marked the end of a formal mourning period in the Catholic Church for Pope Francis, who died April 21 after 12 years in the papacy. He was 88. The pontiff’s death catalyzed an extensive list of traditions dating back centuries, one of which is Novemdiales, a nine-day period of mourning that began with his funeral in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

The schedule for Novemdiales included daily masses inside St. Peter’s Basilica, each presided over by a different cardinal and dedicated to the late pope. Sunday’s mass was headed by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, a senior deacon in the College of Cardinals that serves as advisers to the pope and steers the process of electing a replacement when the position is vacant. 

Like most processions held throughout the mourning phase, hundreds of cardinals attended the final event along with crowds of laypeople who packed into the cathedral. The Vatican shared a livestream of the mass on Sunday as it has done every day of Novemdiales.

Mamberti led the mass in Italian, as a choir sang hymns and a number of others stepped up to the altar to sing or give remarks. 

“We have all admired how Pope Francis, animated by the love of the lord and carried by his grace, was faithful to his mission until the extreme consumption of his strength,” said Mamberti, in part of the homily translated to English by a moderator. “He admonished the powerful, that they must obey god rather than man, and proclaimed to all humanity the joy of the gospel.”

Remembered for challenging long-held norms within the church, Francis died of a stroke on Easter Monday that led to a coma and heart failure, the Vatican said in a statement at the time. He had experienced major health issues in recent years, including two abdominal surgeries and multiple respiratory infections. The pope was hospitalized for five weeks between February and March after developing bronchitis and, later, pneumonia. 

The conclave to select Pope Francis’ successor will begin following the conclusion of Novemdiales. It officially starts May 7, when a group of about 135 cardinal electors will isolate at the Vatican and initiate an ancient ritual used to determine who becomes the next pope. Inside the Sistine Chapel, those cardinals will repeatedly cast ballots for the candidate or candidates of their choice, until a single candidate receives a two-thirds-plus-one majority.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York, discussed the upcoming conclave with reporters Sunday but did not hint at any frontrunners emerging just yet. 

“In the general congregations, you don’t speak about candidates. You speak about the beauty, the graces of Pope Francis and the challenges of the church,” Dolan said, adding that some conversations between cardinals do happen privately. 

As far as the qualities he is looking for in the next leader of the church, Dolan said he hopes “there’s a pope that is like Jesus, because the pope is supposed to be the vicar of Christ on Earth.”

“The first time Pope Francis spoke to us cardinals, he spoke so beautifully and humbly and simply, and I was sitting next to the Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Schonborn, and he had tears in his eyes,” Dolan recalled. “He said, ‘He speaks like Jesus.’ I said, ‘I think that’s the job description.'”