The Novena for the Repose of the Pope and for a New Pope

When a Pope dies, the Church does two things at once: she prays for the repose of his soul, as she prays for any of her departed sons, and she begs God for a holy successor to sit in the chair of Peter. This novena for the repose of the Pope and for a new Pope binds both intentions into nine days of prayer, using the Church's own words — the Roman Missal's prayer for a deceased Supreme Pontiff and its prayer for the election of a Roman Pontiff. It is a devotion for the days of mourning after a Pope's death and through the vacancy of the Holy See, when Catholics keep the ancient Novemdiales and pray for the men who must choose the next Vicar of Christ. Below we give the full novena, the authentic prayers, and how to pray it.

A note on this devotion

The practice at the heart of this novena is old and thoroughly traditional: the Novemdiales — the nine days of Masses and prayers for a deceased Pope — go back centuries and are still prescribed at the death of every Pope, and the Roman Missal has long carried both a Mass "for a deceased Pope" and a Mass "for the election of a Roman Pontiff." What is modern is only the occasion: a particular Pope, named in the moment of his passing. We give the enduring form here — the one that serves at the death of any Pope — so that whether you are praying for Pope Francis, for a future Pope, or simply for the reigning Pontiff, the words are the Church's own and not invented. If you are new to the practice, see our guide to what is a novena.

The full novena for the repose of the Pope and for a new Pope

This novena is prayed once each day for nine days. Each day has the same form: you pray for the soul of the departed Pope, then for a holy successor, then close with the prayers Our Lord and the Church have given us. Where the prayers name the Pope, insert his name.

Opening

Begin with the Sign of the Cross:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Part One — For the repose of the Pope's soul

Pray the De Profundis (Psalm 129), the Church's own psalm for the dead:

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.

Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it?

For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of Thy law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.

My soul hath relied on His word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him plentiful redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Then the Church's prayer for the dead:

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Then the collect for a deceased Pope, from the Roman Missal — inserting his name:

O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence didst will that Thy servant N. should be numbered among the Supreme Pontiffs, grant, we beseech Thee, that he, who on earth held the place of Thine only-begotten Son, may be joined for evermore to the fellowship of Thy holy Pontiffs. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Part Two — For the election of a holy new Pope

Pray the versicle and collect from the Roman Missal's Mass for the election of a Roman Pontiff (offered during the vacancy of the Holy See):

V. I will raise Me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to My heart and My soul.

R. And I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days before My Anointed.

Let us pray. We most humbly entreat Thee, O Lord, that Thy boundless goodness may grant to the most holy Roman Church a Bishop who shall ever be pleasing to Thee by his loving zeal in our regard, and, by his beneficent rule, be constantly revered by Thy people to the glory of Thy Name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Because the choosing of a Pope is the work of the Holy Ghost through the cardinal electors, invoke Him — the same Veni Creator sung before the conclave votes:

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, and in our hearts take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid, to fill the hearts which Thou hast made. Amen.

Many add this petition for a holy Pope:

O Lord, give us a holy Pope who, inflamed with the zeal of the Apostles, proclaims to the whole world that salvation is found in no other than in Jesus Christ. Adorn the Holy See with a holy Pope who neither fears the powerful of this world nor compromises with the spirit of the age, but preserves, strengthens, and defends the Catholic Faith, and observes, protects, and hands on the Tradition of the Church. Hear us, O Lord, and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Church, grant us a holy Pope, grant us many holy Popes! Amen.

Closing

Close each day with:

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Repeat this whole form once a day for nine days.

The novena for the repose of Pope Francis (and any deceased Pope)

To pray the novena for the repose of Pope Francis — or the novena for the soul of Pope Francis, the novena for the death of Pope Francis, or the novena for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, all names for the same intention — pray the full form above, inserting his name in the collect: "that Thy servant Francis should be numbered among the Supreme Pontiffs." Do not presume he is already in heaven; the surest charity to any departed soul, a Pope's above all, is to pray for it, that any debt of purgatory be quickly paid. This is exactly what the Novena for the Dead does for every faithful soul, and what the Litany of the Poor Souls in Purgatory begs. A Pope carries a heavier account than most men, precisely because he was given more; our prayers for his repose are an act of filial love, not a verdict.

The novena for the election of a new Pope

The novena for the election of a new Pope — or simply the novena for the new Pope — is Part Two above, prayed through the sede vacante, the days the Holy See stands empty between one Pope's death and the next Pope's election. The Church forbids the Mass "for the election of a Roman Pontiff" at any other time; it belongs to the vacancy. Its whole burden is that God, not men, is the true chooser, and that He would give His Church a shepherd after His own heart. Pray it for the cardinals in conclave, that the Holy Ghost overrule every human calculation — which is why the Veni Creator and, at the conclave's opening, the Litany of the Saints are sung. For the great novena to the Holy Ghost Himself, see the Pentecost Novena.

The novena for the Pope (for the reigning Pontiff)

Not every novena for the Pope is for a dead one. Catholics have always prayed for the living Pope — for his person, his health, his fidelity, and the burden he carries. The oldest such prayer is the versicle Oremus pro Pontifice nostro N. — "Let us pray for our Pontiff N.: may the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies." Pray this daily for nine days for the reigning Pope, adding an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. To pray for the Pope is a duty of every Catholic, not a partisan act; the Church asks it at every Mass.

The novena for the conversion of Pope Francis

Some search for a novena for the conversion of Pope Francis, and it should be said plainly and charitably: to pray for the sanctification of the Pope — any Pope — is good and traditional, for a Pope is a man who must save his own soul and will answer for a flock as no other man will. But "conversion" must be understood soberly. We do not pray as judges of the Vicar of Christ, nor to bend him to our own preferences; we pray as sons, that God keep the Holy Father in the true Faith, strengthen him against error, and lead every Pope to holiness. The prayer "O Lord, give us a holy Pope… who preserves, strengthens, and defends the Catholic Faith" above carries this intention well. Prayer for the Pope's holiness is filial love; contempt disguised as prayer is not.

The 54-day novena for the Pope

The 54-day novena for the Pope applies the great 54-Day Rosary Novena — twenty-seven days of petition and twenty-seven of thanksgiving, five decades of the Rosary each day — to the intentions of the Pope: for the repose of a departed Pope, for the conclave, or for the reigning Pontiff. It is a powerful form for a grave, sustained intention, and the Blessed Virgin's own Rosary is a fitting weapon to lay at the feet of the Mother of the Church for her sons in the chair of Peter. If you are learning the beads, see how to pray the Rosary.

St Faustina's novena for the Pope

Devotees of the Divine Mercy sometimes speak of a St Faustina's novena for the Pope, meaning the offering of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the Holy Father — living or dead — in the spirit of St Faustina, who prayed constantly for the Church and her shepherds and whose Diary begs mercy for the whole world. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is especially fitting for a departed Pope, for it is the great prayer for the dying and the dead: "Have mercy on us and on the whole world." Pray it nine days for the repose of the Pope's soul, or through the sede vacante that mercy would guide the conclave.

How to pray this novena

Pray it once a day, at a fixed hour, for nine days. The natural time is the Novemdiales — the nine days of mourning that begin at (or just after) a Pope's death and burial — which is why so many ask when the novena for Pope Francis starts: it begins with the days of mourning and runs through them, and the intention for a new Pope naturally carries on through the whole vacancy until white smoke rises from the Sistine Chapel and a new Pope is announced. But you need not wait for a Pope to die: the reigning Pontiff always needs prayer, and this novena, said for him, is always in season. Join it where you can to Mass and Holy Communion offered for the Pope, and pray it in submission — Thy will be done — trusting that God governs His Church through the storms of every age.

The tradition of praying for a dead Pope and for the conclave

The Church has buried Popes for two thousand years, and from the earliest centuries she has surrounded a Pope's death with prayer. The custom crystallized into the Novemdiales (from the Latin novem dies, "nine days"): nine successive days of Requiem Masses and prayers for the repose of the deceased Pontiff, kept at Rome and throughout the Catholic world. It rests on the same faith that founds all prayer for the dead — that the souls in purgatory are helped by the suffrages of the living, and that we owe this charity above all to the man who was our father in the Faith. A Pope, for all his office, dies as every man dies and stands before the same Judge; the tiara does not exempt him from the Four Last Things. So the Church prays, as she teaches every Catholic to pray, that his soul may "rest in peace."

The vacancy that follows — the sede vacante, the "empty seat" — is a time of watching and prayer. The government of the Church passes to the College of Cardinals, but they may not elect until they enter the conclave (from cum clave, "with a key," for they are locked in until they choose). Before each ballot the electors invoke the Holy Ghost with the Veni Creator; the Church around the world offers the Mass "for the election of a Roman Pontiff" and begs, in the Missal's own words, a shepherd "pleasing to Thee." The faith beneath the whole practice is that the choice of a Pope is not finally the work of politics or men, but of the Holy Ghost, who has never yet abandoned the Church and never will — for Christ promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her (Matthew 16:18). To pray this novena is to take our place in that ancient watch: mourning one shepherd, and begging God for the next.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the novena for Pope Francis start?

It begins with the Novemdiales, the nine days of mourning that follow a Pope's death and funeral. Many begin it on the day of death or the day after and pray it nine days running; the intention for a new Pope then carries on through the whole vacancy of the Holy See, until a successor is elected. If you are praying now for the reigning Pope rather than a departed one, you may begin any day — the Pope always needs prayer.

What is the novena for the repose of the Pope's soul?

It is nine days of prayer that his soul, if it be in purgatory, may quickly be purified and admitted to heaven. We pray the De Profundis, the Eternal Rest, and the Roman Missal's collect for a deceased Pope, which asks that he "who on earth held the place of Thine only-begotten Son may be joined for evermore to the fellowship of Thy holy Pontiffs." It is the same charity the Church shows every soul, offered to the highest of her sons.

Should we pray for a Pope's soul if he is a saint?

Yes — pray, and let God judge. We do not know that any soul is in heaven unless the Church has canonized him, and even the holiest man may have some debt of purgatory to pay. To pray for a departed Pope's repose can never be wasted: if he is already in glory, God applies our prayers to another soul in need. Charity for the dead never returns empty.

What is the novena for the election of a new Pope?

It is prayer, through the vacancy of the Holy See, that God would give His Church a holy successor. It uses the Roman Missal's Mass "for the election of a Roman Pontiff," offered only during the sede vacante, together with the Veni Creator to the Holy Ghost, who is the true chooser of every Pope through the cardinal electors in conclave.

Is it right to pray a novena for the conversion of Pope Francis?

It is right to pray for the sanctification and fidelity of any Pope, for a Pope is a man who must save his own soul and answer for the whole flock. Pray as a son, not a judge — that God keep the Holy Father in the true Faith and lead him to holiness. Prayer for the Pope's holiness is a work of love; contempt in the shape of prayer is not.

What is the 54-day novena for the Pope?

It is the 54-Day Rosary Novena — twenty-seven days of petition and twenty-seven of thanksgiving, five decades of the Rosary daily — offered for the Pope's intentions: for a departed Pope's repose, for the conclave, or for the reigning Pontiff. It is a strong form for a grave, sustained intention.

Who prays for the Pope when the See is empty?

The whole Church. The government passes to the College of Cardinals, but the faithful everywhere keep the Novemdiales for the departed Pope and pray for the conclave. The Church has never left the chair of Peter unattended by prayer, from the first days to our own.

Pray this novena for the repose of the Pope and for a holy new Pope with day-by-day reminders and audio in the Iter Fidei app. Download it here.

Sources. Roman Missal, the collect for a deceased Supreme Pontiff (Deus, qui inter summos Sacerdotes) and the Mass and collect for the election of a Roman Pontiff (Supplici, Domine, humilitate deposcimus); Psalm 129 (De Profundis) and the Requiem aeternam from the Office and Mass for the Dead; the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus; the versicle Oremus pro Pontifice nostro; Holy Scripture (Matthew 16:18); the traditional Novemdiales observed at the death of a Roman Pontiff.