Pope Francis has died: What happens next?

The Vatican has announced Pope Francis has died, aged 88.

This episode of It's Reigning Men was first published in February 2025 and contains some discussion around sexual abuse in the second half of the episode, which may not be appropriate for all.

As head of state of The Vatican City, Pope Francis was also a monarch.

The Pope is one of a handful of elected monarchs in the world, which also include Cambodia, Malayisa and United Arab Emirates.

In this episode we look at the the Pope's role as a monarch, as well as leader of the Catholic church, and discuss the influence he has with other world leaders.

We look at how a Pope is elected in a conclave and explore the changes he's brought to the church.

This episode was recorded while Pope Francis was in hospital.

Guests:

Colleen Dulle, Inside the Vatican podcast host

Charles Collins, Managing Editor at Crux

'Inside The Vatican' podcast can be listened to here: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/inside-vatican

Hosted by Daniel Rosney

Our email is: itsreigningmenpod@gmail.com

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Thanks for listening to It’s Reigning Men - a brand new podcast about royalty, royal families, and monarchs of the world.

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