The pre-conclave gatherings give an opportunity for cardinals to emerge as possible papal candidates as the cardinals discuss the issues facing the church and qualities desired in the next pope. The following figures are potential contenders to become the 267th successor of St. Peter.

One of the world’s top experts on clerical sexual abuse, Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, said Pope Francis will be remembered as a pontiff who made listening to victims of abuse one of the trademarks of his pontificate — a habit that made him a model for other bishops and leaders in the church.

Teaching high school literature before and after becoming a priest, Pope Francis possessed an extensive background in the themes and devices in literature and cinema.

While Pope Francis often bucked formality and sidestepped some offices of the Roman Curia, one institution he believed in deeply was the Synod of Bishops and — even more — the notion of “synodality.”

In the last years of his papacy, the world saw the more serious, concerned and suffering face of Pope Francis. But with one group he was always beaming, always smiling and always cheerful: the poor.

Given the late Pope Francis’ care and concern for the poor, a representative group of them has been formally invited to welcome his casket to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.

As they entered the Vatican to participate in a series of meetings leading up to the election of Pope Francis’ successor, several cardinals spoke to the media, emphasizing that they are still mourning the Argentine pontiff — not yet choosing his successor.

Pope Francis must be remembered for his deep Marian piety. In speaking to a group of young people in Rome on June 29, 2014 — the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul — he famously said: “A Christian without the Madonna is an orphan.”

Pope Francis’ funeral is scheduled for April 26 at 10 a.m. Rome time (4 a.m. EDT in Baltimore) in St. Peter’s Square, with burial to follow at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major.

After the casket bearing Pope Francis’ body was placed in St. Peter’s Basilica, tens of thousands of mourners lined up to pay their respects.