How Pope Francisc -Frouwenden can visit his coffin – and the big change in showing the Pope that tradition defies

With the 1.3 billion Catholics in the world now mourn the death of Pope FrancisMany of them will want to go to Rome while he is in the state in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

The news about the death of the 88-year-old was announced earlier today, two months after he was admitted to the hospital with an infection that developed until pneumonia In both lungs and then kidney failure. He spent his last hours blessing thousands of people on St. Peter’s Square Easter Sunday.

There will now be nine days official mourning.

The Vatican Chamberlain, currently Cardinal Kevin Farrell, will first officially certify that Francis is dead by calling his name three times at his bed.

The Pope’s office and the private apartments are sealed and the ring from the papal fisherman removed from his finger and broken with a hammer.

The pope’s body will then be dressed in red robes with a white miter on his head, and he will be brought to St. Peter’s Basilica, where he will be able to lie in for three days.

His coffin will be worn by the “door of death” on the left side of the main altar in the basilica when a single bell is hooked. Previous pontiffs were traditionally buried in three nested coffins made of Cipres, lead and oak.

However, Francis has chosen a simple wooden box with zinc and asked that his body is not visible on top of a raised platform, or catafalque, in St. Peter’s Basilica for visitors to Rome to view, as was the case with earlier popes.

If you want to see the Pope in the state in St. Peter’s Basilica, be prepared for huge queues and raised safety, especially because it is already busy with the jubilee year.

Traveling to Rome will not be influenced, but the city will probably become much busier, so make sure you have already booked your accommodation.

His funeral will take place within six days, and then – unlike most of his predecessors – Francis will be buried in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Esquilino district in Rome, instead of in the caves under St. Peter’s.

The historical process of the conclave – where cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to choose who the next Pope will be – will not start at least 15 days from today.

The Sixtine Chapel is closed about a week before the conclave and the entire duration of the process is closed.

It will probably open again a few days after the end of the conclave.

During the conclave, however, the Vatican museums remain open and visitors are re -directed according to an alternative route By Eternity Tours.

Many restaurants and shops will also be closed during this period, as a sign of respect.

The Sixtine Chapel will be closed for about a week for the conclave and for the entire duration of the process.

It will probably open again a few days after the end of the conclave.

During the conclave, however, the Vatican museums remain open and visitors are re -directed according to an alternative route By Eternity Tours.

Access to St. Peter’s Basilica will not be possible on tours, because you can access the Sixtine Chapel. The basilica will have limited (non -specific) access because of the preparations for the funeral. Access to the dome of the basilica is closed.

Tours of the Vatican gardens will be suspended for security reasons, because the cardinals are getting back and forth from the chapel to their accommodation on the site.

St. Peter’s Square remains open, but there will be large crowds and media in the Piazza for the duration of the conclave process. If you want to see the smoke of the chapel, it is seen twice a day – around noon after the first two ballot papers and again at 16-5 pm after the last voting round.

Only cardinals of 80 years and younger – so 138 of 252 currently – can vote in the conclave.

Cardinals are locked in the chapel without access to technology or the outside world until a new pope is chosen by two -thirds majority.

The previous conclave – when Pope Benedict resigned in 2013 – lasted only a day, but technically they can take weeks, months or even years.

In modern times they tend to last only a few days. If no new pope has been chosen after about two weeks of voting, cardinals can opt for a majority of votes.

The first day of the conclave starts with the mass ‘Pro Eligeno Romano Pontificie’ for the election of a Pope.

Cardinals gather in the afternoon in the Pauline chapel of the apostolic palace and then serve in the Sixtine Chapel.

While they do that, they will sing the litany of saints and the Latin hymn Veni Creator, who begs the saints and the Holy Spirit to help them in their decision.

Standing under the ‘creation’ of Michelangelo and before his ‘Last Judgment’, every Cardinal places his hand on the gospels and promises ‘with the greatest faith’ to never reveal the details of the conclave.