27-04-2025
South Floridians honor Pope Francis' life and legacy with Vigil Mass at Miami's Cathedral of St. Mary
While hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Vatican City for Pope Francis' funeral, some South Florida Catholics who couldn't make it went to the Cathedral of St. Mary for a Vigil Mass.
People from all over South Florida joined the Archdiocese of Miami to pray for Pope Francis, who died Monday at the age of 88.
While the pope was buried in Italy, people from all over the world are feeling a great sense of loss with his passing.
CBS News Miami spoke with Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami, who said the loss of Pope Francis is being felt by everyone, not just Catholics.
"The pope is the leader of a billion Catholics and he's a man of great moral influence. And, he doesn't have any military weapons but he has moral weapons and weapons of the Gospel and of truth," he said. "And he has wielded them courageously."
When will there be a new pope?
After Pope Francis' funeral, nine days of mourning began, called the Novemdiales.
Eligible cardinals under the age of 80 — currently a group of about 135 — will gather in Rome to prepare for the papal conclave, the centuries-old process to select the next pope. The conclave usually begins around two weeks after a pope's death, so in this case, likely in early May.
During the conclave, eligible cardinals will isolate themselves and, behind closed doors in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, they will cast ballots for their choice, repeating the process until a candidate receives a two-thirds-plus-one majority. The ballots, which are paper, are burned after each round of voting.
If no choice has been reached, the ballots from that round send up black smoke from the chimney as they burn. When a new pope is finally selected, a cloud of white smoke is sent up to signal the momentous news to the world.
