Funeral plans on agenda as cardinals meet in Vatican In the next hour and a half, cardinals are expected to gather at the Vatican to plan Pope Francis's funeral, with leaders from around the world expected to attend. All cardinals currently in Rome have been invited to the Vatican at 8am (UK time), to begin making plans for the funeral. His death set in motion ancient rituals, as the 1.4-billion-member church began the transition from one pope to another, including the breaking of the pope's "Fisherman's Ring" and lead seal. One tradition the pope is expected to break is in his choice of final resting place. Traditionally, the pope is then buried in the crypts beneath St Peter's Basilica, where almost 100 popes are entombed. But Francis will be the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican. He said in an interview in 2023 that he had picked the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome, one of his favourite and most-frequented churches, as his final resting place.