Vatican rituals after the pope's death

VATICAN CITY - NBC News Keith Miller, who has reported on the papacy of Pope John Paul II for many years, explains the ancient rituals that will now come to pass to mark Pope John Paul II's death.

What will happen next?
There is a system here that has been in place for a long, long time. This is an ancient and a massive bureaucracy presiding over basically a billion people.

What they have in place is to ensure the smooth transition of the church and more importantly, the smooth transition to the next leader.

Basically, they have it written in stone that upon the pope’s death, his funeral is to take place between four and to six days following his death.

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There will be a funeral Mass conducted in St. Peter’s Square to allow the greatest number of people to attend in person. If the weather is extremely bad they would move it inside the basilica, but that is not expected.

The number of people that would attend would certainly exceed 100,000 people. St. Peter’s Square can hold that, and some more. There will be standing-room only.

That would be followed by nine days of mourning. That’s an official period of time of reflection, thinking back upon the papacy of John Paul II, and also thinking forward to where the Catholic Church and its flock are heading. 

What is the procedure for electing the next pope?
Then, perhaps the most important moment after the death of the pope will be the Conclave. The Conclave is the procedure for electing the next pope. That has to happen no less than 15 days, and no more than 20 days, after the death of the pope. That is nothing less than 15 days out of respect to the previous pope, and no more than 20 days, so there is no delay in the process.

We are really dealing with a worldwide church now, so that it also gives time for cardinals to come and assemble from across the earth.

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