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Cardinals from around the world will meet under Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel on May 7 to elect a new leader of the Catholic Church after Pope Francis's death.

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.

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.

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.

Some 250,000 people paid respects to Pope Francis during the three days his coffin led in St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said Friday, as public viewing ended and world leaders began gathering for his funeral.

Arriving in Rome after Pope Francis's death, Catholic cardinals have admitted some apprehension at the responsibility of choosing his successor, as they begin setting out what they hope to see in the next head of the Church.

Tens of thousands of mourners flocked Thursday to catch a last glimpse of Pope Francis's body on the second day of public tributes as Italian authorities stepped up security arrangements ahead of his funeral.

Rome's Gammarelli tailors traditionally prepare the vestments for the new pope -- but say this time the Vatican will use cassocks from previous elections, in what may be a homage to the environmentally conscious Pope Francis.