What are the church's rites for the death of a pope and the election of a new one?

The death of a pope starts a centuriesold ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals elect-

- By ASSOCIATED PRESS

ing a successor, the piercing of bal-lots with a needle and thread after they're counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there's a new leader for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.

The election itself is shrouded in secrecy, with cardinals forbid-den from communicating with the outside world what happened during the voting in the conclave behind the frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel. While there were some leaps of artistic license, the process is in many ways as it was depicted in last year's Oscar-winning film “Conclave.”

St.John Paul II rewrote the regula-tions on papal elections in a1996 doc-ument that remains largely in force, though Pope Benedict XVI amended it twice before he resigned. Here is what happens when a pope dies, a period known as the “sede vacante,” or the “vacant See.”

Who’s in charge?

After the pope has died, the cam-erlengo, or chamberlain, must certify the death and seal the papal apart-ment. He runs administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until anew pope takes over.

The largely ceremonial job of camerlengo is currently held by Car-dinal Kevin Farrell, the Irish-born American head of the Vatican’s laity office, who also announced the death on Monday morning.

Nearly all prefects of Vatican offices lose their jobs when a pope dies, but a few stay on, including the foreign minister and the master of liturgical ceremonies, who plays akey role in assembling the conclave.

The dean of the College of Cardi-nals summons the cardinals for the funeral, presiding at the Mass before the conclave begins. That position is currently held by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the retired head of the Vatican’s office for bishops.