Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis was the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church and held the role for 12 years. Red-robed cardinals and white-clad priests escorted the Pope's coffin from his residence to the basilica on Wednesday.

The late pontiff's coffin is now resting inside St Peter's Basilica - in front of the Papal Altar - and will remain there until his funeral. Long queues of people moved through the square outside, and through the halls of the basilica, waiting patiently to catch a glimpse of the Pope lying in state.

After Pope Francis's funeral, his coffin will be transferred to the Basilica of St Mary Major, a church lying outside the Vatican's walls that he was particularly fond of visiting. Francis will be the first pope to be buried there since the 1600s, and the first in over 100 years to be buried outside the Vatican.