Centuries of experience dealing with the death, or occasional resignation, of a pope has left the Catholic Church with thorough instructions detailing who has responsibility for planning the funeral, preparing for the election of a new pope and taking care of essential business in the meantime.
The instructions are found in St. John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic constitution, “Universi Dominici Gregis,” which was revised by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and again just before he resigned in 2013.
The funeral and burial of a pope who dies in office should take place “between the fourth and sixth day after death,” the document said. The exact date is determined at a meeting of all the cardinals able to reach the Vatican immediately after the papal death.
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