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Red-robed cardinals were expected on Monday to pick a date for the conclave to elect a new leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, following the death of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis's modest tomb drew massive queues on the first day of public viewing in Rome on Sunday, a day after an estimated 400,000 people turned out for his funeral and burial.

For years, traditionalists raged at Pope Francis's liberal approach. The question now is whether his successor will walk the same path, or take the Catholic Church in a new direction.

Pope Francis smashed the stereotypical profile for a pontiff, becoming the Catholic Church's first leader from the Americas and the first non-European since the eighth century.

The Vatican, headquarters of the Catholic Church, is the smallest state in the world, with its own newspaper, national anthem in Latin and supreme leader -- the pope.

Cardinals electing Pope Francis's successor will have an easier time than many of their predecessors, who endured spartan conditions and were even locked up so long that some of them died.

With songs, dancing, tears and prayers, mourners in Buenos Aires marked the burial of native son Pope Francis on Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners joined world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, to bid farewell Saturday to Pope Francis, a champion of the poor who strived to forge a more compassionate Catholic church.