The funeral for Pope Francis will include many long-held traditions, but will also eschew some of the more intricate customs after the pope amended the Catholic Church’s papal funeral rights.  

Francis died Monday at age 88, the Vatican announced.

While much of the tradition associated with papal funerals – which dates all the way back to ancient Rome – will continue, matters such as Francis’ coffin structure, his death verification process, burial location, and how he will be viewed and referred to during the ceremony, will be different from how it has been in the past.

Francis, who had battled pneumonia for weeks before being released from the hospital and appearing on Easter Sunday, had faced health complications for many years and had to have half of one of his lungs removed as a young person. 

Another notable change includes how the pope will be referenced during the ceremony following his death. Rather than being referenced by past titles he has obtained as a clergy leader in the Catholic Church, officials will mostly use Latin terms for “pope,” “bishop,” or “pastor.”

Archbishop Stanislaw Dsiwisz (Right) places a white veil over the face of late Pope John Paul II as Archbishop Piero Marini looks on, prior to closing the coffin for burial in the grottos beneath St. Peter’s Basilica April 8, 2005 at the Vatican. The grottoes form a cramped underground cemetery beneath St. Peter’s Basilica where pontiffs  throughout the ages, royals and even an emperor have been laid to rest. (Photo by Osservatore Romano-Pool/Getty Images)

Archbishop Ravelli said during a 2024 presentation of the revised papal funeral rights that a new edition was reflective of Francis’ view, stated on several occasions Ravelli said, “of the need to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the Bishop of Rome may better express the faith of the Church in the Risen Christ.”

Before the new edition of the papal rites was formally passed, the church followed the guidelines in the “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis” approved in 1998 by Saint John Paul II and published two years later, according to The National Catholic Register. 

Those guidelines were used for Pope John Paul II’s 2005 funeral, but was modified to meet the unusual circumstances of Pope Benedict XVI’s passing.