Conclave to choose the next pope will begin on May 7, Vatican says.

[noumoe]

Cardinals have chosen May 7 as the date to start conclave and elect a new leader for 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, a Vatican source told CNN.

Pope Francis, 88, died of a stroke and heart failure on Easter Monday. He was laid to rest on Saturday at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in a simple tomb as requested by the late pontiff, following a funeral Mass on the steps of the St. Peter’s Basilica that drew heads of state, royalty and hundreds of thousands of mourners.

On Sunday afternoon, some of the cardinals visited the simple, marble tomb with the inscription “Franciscus” to pay homage to the late pontiff. Huge crowds filed past his final resting place in the basilica.