Widely known as the "Asian Francis", Fr Tagle accompanied Pope Francis on his 11-day tour of South East Asia last year. He also constantly tries to make Catholicism relevant to younger Filipinos with a strong presence on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X.

Pope Francis’s tenure was punctuated by repeated clashes with American political leaders and sweeping efforts to install more liberal-leaning church leaders.

Although Pope Francis simplified the papal funeral rites in a move of typical modesty, Saturday’s ceremony will still be full of pomp and pageantry, as the world’s Catholics bid him farewell and cardinals in the Vatican ready themselves for the millennia-old process of picking a new pontiff.

Catholic Church leaders will select the pope to replace Pope Francis through a special conclave process. Here's who could be the next pope.