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.

The pontiff’s death initiated a well-structured series of rituals designed to mourn the loss of the 1.3 billion-member church’s leader and to ensure stability with the selection of a new pope.

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