Millions around the world tuned in to watch as Pope Francis was laid to rest on 26 April, with 400,000 mourners alone paying their final respects outside St Peter’s Basilica.The late pontiff’s coffin was transported outside Vatican City into Rome,

Here is what happens next in the Roman Catholic Church following the funeral of Pope Francis, after his death at the age of 88, and the announcement of the start of the conclave on May 7.

Francis, who took his name after Saint Francis of Assisi, was known for his outreach to the poor and those in poverty and that will be reflected in his minimalist burial at Saint Mary Major. He is the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in over a century and the first to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore in more than 300 years.