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Pope Francis' death on Easter Monday (April 21, 2025) sets in motion a weeks-long series of events, from a period of mourning to the process of selecting his successor. The Vatican has an intricate set of rules governing the papal transition, a process the world does not get to watch unfold very often. Several Vatican officials’ step into designated roles to certify the pope’s death, organize a public viewing and a funeral, and to initiate the process for selecting a successor. Immediately after a pope’s death is confirmed by the head of the Vatican’s health department and the body dressed in a white cassock and brought to the pope’s private chapel, the cardinal chamberlain (camerlengo) becomes the Vatican’s de facto administrator for day-to-day affairs. The prefect of the papal household tells the camerlengo who must verify the pope's death in the presence of the papal master of ceremonies, the cleric prelates of the Apostolic Camera and the secretary of the Apostolic Camera, who draws up a death certificate. Then the camerlengo and prefect of the papal household pass the news to various officials in the Vatican, who relay it to the people of Rome and the heads of nations. The camerlengo locks and seals the pope's apartment. While looting was a concern in the past, modern popes are more concerned that their private papers stay out of the wrong hands. The camerlengo destroys the pope's fisherman's ring and seal- traditionally with a special hammer, to symbolize the end of his reign and prevent misuse, like forging documents. The pope’s passing marks the beginning of nine days of mourning called the novemdiales. The College of Cardinals decides on the day and hour that the pope’s body will be brought to St. Peter’s Basilica in a procession led by the camerlengo. His body is dressed in papal vestments and placed in state for public viewing where hundreds of thousands of people line up to pay their respects. The date for the funeral and burial is set by the College of Cardinals, but the apostolic constitution states it is to "take place, except for special reasons, between the fourth and sixth day after death." Previous popes have been buried in three coffins, cypress, lead and elm, placed one inside the other. However, Francis asked to be buried in one coffin made of wood and zinc. Popes are traditionally buried in the Vatican Grottoes on the lower level of Saint Peter’s Basilica. However, Francis requested that he be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino. Only seven popes have been buried there, the last one being Clement IX in 1669. The camerlengo is the acting head of the Vatican until the next pope is chosen and he organizes the election process, which is called the conclave. After the death of a pope, the Vatican enters a transitional period called the sede vacante or interregnum, where power is handed over to the College of Cardinals, but no major decisions are made until the papacy is filled. About 15-20 days after the pope’s death, cardinals under the age of 80 convene at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, which is sealed off, to elect the new pontiff through a secret ballot. Multiple rounds of voting over several days takes place until a candidate wins two-thirds of the vote. If there is no decision after 33 rounds of voting, the top two candidates face off in a run-off vote. Ballots are burned– the public can watch the chimney for progress of the vote. Black smoke means the cardinals will need to vote again; white smoke means a new pope has been chosen. After the vote, the winning candidate is asked two questions: Do they accept their election, and what name will they chose? Then official documents are filled out, the new pope is fitted with papal attire. There are typically three sets of garments at the ready. Then the news is announced to the public. The senior cardinal deacon appears on the balcony over St. Peter's Square and announces " Habemus Papam! " "We have a pope!" ▪

We are pleased to announce that St. Leonard School has been the recipient of two grants gifted within The Catholic Community Foundation: A general grant in the amount of $17,000 for tuition assistance, and a grant from the Robert T. and Randi L. Bautch Fund in the amount of $12,591 for general support. We are grateful for the thoughtful and generous investments helping us continue to provide an excellent Catholic education. The Catholic Community Foundation helps donors with estate planning and other philanthropic initiatives that benefit causes that further the mission of the Church. Learn more at legaciesoffaith.org ▪

Each year we pick a charity to receive all the profits from our annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5K run & walk. The charity that we chose this year is Family Promise of Waukesha County , which helps low-income families and families experiencing homelessness to achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response. I’m happy to announce that we raised a grand total of $23,421.56 from the net profits of the event. This will all benefit the great work of Family Promise of Waukesha County. This year our Turkey Trot had a grand total of 1,872 runners and walkers, the largest turnout in the 13 years that we’ve been hosting this event! We had 900 male participants and 972 females. There were 1,032 runners and 840 walkers. The largest age group was 18 and under with 418 participants. Interestingly, the second largest age group was 50-64 with 385 participants. Teams are popular as 942 participants were on teams, while 930 signed up as individuals. At least 980 have participated in past St. Leonard Turkey Trots. We had 10 different states represented: Wisconsin, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas each had one participant listed. After the run/walk, we served 450 pints of chocolate milk, over 800 cookies, 150 apples, and 2 cases of bananas! Our participants were generous as an additional $3,095.72 was given on the optional donation page for Family Promise of Waukesha County. We owe a big THANK YOU to our Turkey Trot race director Allen Jorn and our roughly 100 volunteers who helped make the event a wonderful success. Thank you to all the people who worked so hard to coordinate the countless details of such a huge event! Thank you to all the bakers who made dozens and dozens of cookies for our walkers and runners! Thank you to our corporate sponsors whose names are on the back of the Turkey Trot t-shirts. Thank you to the Muskego Police Department and the Tess Corners Fire Department for ensuring that we had a safe racecourse! I’ve already started training for the 2025 Turkey Trot and look forward to another great event! ▪