Pope Francis will lie in state in Saint Peter’s Basilica from Wednesday the Vatican has announced overnight, allowing mourners a chance to pay their last respects to the 266th pontiff.
The Pope passed away at 7:35am local Rome time at the Casa Santa Marta on Easter Monday, just a day after appearing to thousands of pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Square following Easter Sunday Mass.
The Vatican also confirmed the Pope cause of death in a statement overnight, saying he suffered a cerebral stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.
Dr Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, issued the official certification, and the Holy See Press Office released the report on Monday evening.
Details of his funerals are yet to be announced however it is expected to take place in a week’s time.
The Vatican released his final testament on Monday. In it, he asked to be buried at Saint Mary Major’s Basilica, differing from many of his predecessors who had chosen to be buried at Saint Peter’s Basilica.
He wrote: "The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus."
The Pope also requested a simplification of some of the rites which usually take place after a pontiff's death.
The Vatican carried out one of those rites on Monday night, called “the rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin.”
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, presided over the rite in the chapel of Pope Francis’ Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, just a little over 12 hours after the pontiff’s death.
Cardinal Farrell also closed and sealed the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, as called for by protocol, along with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and his deputy Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra.
The coming days will be a flurry of news activity from Rome, as details of both the funeral, burial and conclave are announced.