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FACTBOX: Vatican enters sede vacante period, as pontiff passes

21.04.2025 19:48

Context:

Pope Francis passed away on April 21, 2025 at the age of 88. He was the 266th head of the Roman Catholic Church. His demise set off a period known as Sede Vacante, which means a "vacant seat."

Sede Vacante

Sede Vacante is a period that spans from the death or resignation of the Pope to the election of his successor.

At this time the life of the entire church comes almost to a complete standstill, as most of its officials resign. Among those who retain their posts are the dean of the College of Cardinals, the major penitentiary, and the camerlengo, who manages the daily affairs of the Holy See.

Among his other duties, the camerlengo must officially announce the pope’s death, seal his private chambers, manage the Holy See’s property, arrange the funeral and make sure that everything is in place for the election of a new pontiff.

During Sede Vacante, coins are minted that don’t display a papal portrait. In 1978, when two popes - Paul VI and John Paul I - passed away, two coin sets were struck. The second one bore the inscription "sede vacante-2." These coins are the most coveted by numismatists.

Funeral

Popes occasionally made changes in the funeral ceremony, but what remained unchanged for a long time is the placement of the pontiff’s body on a bier in St. Peter's Basilica for the faithful to venerate. The custom has been to bury popes in triple coffins of cypress, lead, and oak. Cypress is the tree that, as legend has it, was used to make the cross on which Christ was crucified.

Traditionally, unless pontiffs directed otherwise in their wills, they were buried in the grottoes beneath St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. The basilica is built on the site of the burial of Peter the Apostle, the first bishop of Rome. Pontiffs are regarded as successors to St. Peter. The popes, who were beatified or blessed, are entombed in the cathedral's chapels. They include John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI, the latest pontiffs to be canonized.

But many of the popes wished to be buried in Rome’s other churches. For example, Pius V, Clement VIII, Clement IX, Paul V and Sixtus V are buried in the St. Mary Major Basilica; and Pius IX is laid to rest in the Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls in Rome's Campo Verano cemetery. The latest head of the Roman Catholic Church buried outside the Vatican was Leo XIII. After passing away in 1903, he was buried in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

In November 2024, the Vatican City-based newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported, citing the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, that Francis had ordered his burial to be more modest than that of his predecessors. In one of the changes, the body won’t be displayed outside the coffin for paying respects. Also, a triple coffin won’t be used. Francis wished to be buried in a simplified wooden coffin and chose the St. Mary Major Basilica as his burial place.

The conclave

After 10 days of mourning, the Vatican will start preparations for the conclave, a secret meeting of cardinals to elect a new head of the Roman Catholic Church. It is convened, as a rule, 15-18 days after the death of the pontiff. The election is held in the Sistine Chapel and may last several days. It never took more than four days in the last 100 years. Sede vacante ends when the election is over, which is traditionally signaled with white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

During the Middle Ages, there were times when the seat remained vacant for months and even years. For example, 2 years and 9 months elapsed between the death of Pope Clement IV in November 1268 and the election of Gregory X in September 1271, the longest sede vacante period ever.

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