Now that Pope Francis has been buried, there will be a nine-day period of official mourning – and then the arcane succession process will begin.
As depicted in the Oscar-winning film Conclave, the all-powerful cardinals will gather in the hallowed surroundings of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to decide.
Conclave means ‘with key’ in Latin, and the voting cardinals will be locked in the chapel until they decide who will be the next pope.
They will have no access to phones or electronic gadgets so that only ‘God can guide their decision’, and the chapel will also be swept for bugs.
Known as the College of Cardinals, only those aged below 80 can take part. And among them will be the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, 79, who has ruled himself out for the top job.
Of the 252 cardinals, only 135 are eligible. Those taking part will be staying at St Martha House in the Vatican, where they will sleep and eat in between votes. After votes are cast, the papers will be burnt with black smoke, meaning the jury is still out, or white to signal the new pope has been chosen.
But will they select a liberal pontiff in the vein of Francis, or someone more traditional? Among the contenders are three Italians – the Pope’s number two Pietro Parolin, 70, Matteo Zuppi, 69, and Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 60.
The last Italian pope was John Paul I, who died in 1978 shortly after taking office. Since then there has been a Pole (John Paul II), a German (Pope Benedict) and Argentine Francis.
Cardinal Parolin is seen as a moderate and is an expert in the Middle East. Cardinal Zuppi has worked with migrant charities and was Pope Francis’ envoy in the Ukraine. He has been on peace missions in Kiev, Moscow, Washington and Peking.
Cardinal Pizzaballa was the Pope’s representative in Jerusalem, involved in peace talks in the Middle East. He even offered to swap himself for hostages seized by Hamas in the October 7 attacks.
Other possibilities include Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, from the Philippines. From Africa, there are two potential candidates to be the first black pope. Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, from Ghana, touted in the 2013 papal election as a contender, is seen as having a similar character to Francis and has spoken out to back gay people.
Cardinal Fridolin Besungu, 65, of the Congo, is, in contrast, seen as a conservative. He once said ‘unions of persons of the same sex are considered contradictory to cultural norms and intrinsically evil’.