Mourning of the late Pope Francis continued in Japan on Monday, with people paying their respects in front of a world-renowned painting now on display at the Holy See Pavilion of the 2025 Osaka World Exposition.

The Vatican’s cardinals’ assembly, known as the General Congregation, has chosen May 7 as the starting date for the highly secretive election that will choose the next pope, the Holy See said on Monday.

The conclave to elect the new pope will kick off next week as the Roman Catholic Church enters its first whole week without a leader following the death of Pope Francis.

Catholic cardinals agreed on Monday to begin a conclave on May 7 to elect a new pope, and highlighted clerical sexual abuse as one of the key challenges facing Pope Francis’s successor. Cardinals under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the world’s 1.

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.

With the funeral now over, attention has turned to the conclave, the confidential process through which a new pope will be chosen, which the Vatican has confirmed will begin on 7 May. Throughout history,

Hundreds of thousands of mourners were gathering at the Vatican to honor the life of Pope Francis on Saturday morning. But not long after the celebration of life concludes, senior officials of the Catholic Church will meet to discuss his successor.