GEOFF BENNETT: The death of a pope and the election of a new pontiff is adorned with high ritual and elaborate ceremony, as these passings and renewals have for centuries.

For more on how the church will celebrate and mourn Francis and what comes next, we're joined by special correspondent Malcolm Brabant, who is in Rome for us tonight.

And so, Malcolm, how are people there remembering and mourning Pope Francis tonight?

MALCOLM BRABANT: Well, the -- it's midnight here in Rome tonight, and so the atmosphere is rather serene.

Throughout the course of the day, thousands of people have been traipsing into the Vatican to pay their respects to a man who was both a colossus and also a very humble, kind of parish priest, even though he held the highest office in the Catholic Church, leading 1.4 billion Catholics around the world.

So there's a great sense of sorrow that a great man has passed away, and there's also a sense of admiration for the courage that he has displayed as he fought the illness over the past few months, and the fact that he managed to eke out his life to the most important date in the Christian calendar, Easter, before giving that blessing in St. Peter's just behind me yesterday, saying that -- wishing people happy Easter.

And people felt very much that he was saying goodbye to them.

And so there's a great sense of loss, but not shock.

GEOFF BENNETT: Walk us through what comes next, the timeline for the funeral and the burial, and the church picking a successor.

MALCOLM BRABANT: What's going to happen tomorrow is that cardinals from all around the world are going to gather to decide on the date of the funeral.

And that has to take place between up to six days after his death was announced.

So we're looking at possibly Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

The decision will be made tomorrow.

And then, on Wednesday, the pope will be lying in state until his funeral in the magnificent cathedral behind me.

And millions of people will -- are expected to come and attend his funeral, as they did at the last great funeral here.

And -- but there's absolutely no guarantee, though, that his final wishes will be respected.

He has said in his will that he wishes to be buried in a very simple grave in a church called Saint Mary Maggiore, which is a basilica outside of the Vatican.

He wants to be buried in a very simple tomb just with -- just Franciscus on it.

And this is a very special place.

It's a place that possesses a piece of wood from Jesus' manger in Bethlehem.

So it's a very -- it's a very sort of relatively humble place compared to the Vatican behind me, where so many more popes are buried.

GEOFF BENNETT: Malcolm Brabant in Rome for us tonight.

Malcolm, thank you.