A photo of Pope Francis being laid out in his open coffin for the Confirmation of the Death of the Pontiff ceremony has been observed.
According to information released by Vatican, the ceremony took place on Monday night and lasted just under an hour.
During the ceremony, the Vatican camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, read the official declaration of death aloud.
Pope Francis’ body was placed in an open wooden casket in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel.
The photographs showed the pontiff lying peacefully, dressed in red liturgical vestments with the papal mitre on his head and a rosary in his hand, as the Vatican secretary of state prayed over him.
Once the camerlengo pronounces the pope dead and before the papal apartment is sealed, he will break the pontiff’s Fisherman’s ring with a special hammer and destroy the dies used to make the papal seal that is placed on apostolic letters.
These items will then be buried with the pontiff.
The Congregation of Cardinals assembled at the Vatican on Tuesday morning, to start making plans for Francis’ funeral.
They will prepare for his burial and also the conclave to elect his successor.
There will now be nine days of official mourning, but the process of the conclave will not begin for at least 15 days from the date of Francis’ death.
Francis died yesterday aged 88 after suffering a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.