Exit tourists. Enter cardinals. The Vatican has closed the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect the next pope after the death of Pope Francis on April 21 at age 88. Francis was buried Saturday after a funeral in St.

After a nine-day mourning period, cardinals will gather to choose the next leader of the Catholic Church. View on euronews

Cardinals arriving for the first day of meetings after Pope Francis’ funeral were swarmed at the city-state’s gates by journalists eager for hints of whether any consensus is building around the election of a successor.

The world's Catholic cardinals met on Monday for the first time after the funeral of Pope Francis to discuss a possible date to enter a secret conclave and elect the next leader of the global Church.

Foreign Correspondent Maggie Rulli and Colleen Dulle, an associate editor at America magazine, joins ABC News Live to discuss the ancient ritual of selecting a pope.

Pope Francis died at age 88 on April 21, setting off a series of centuries-old rituals to select a new leader of the Catholic Church.