Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two cardinals will be representing Pacific Island countries at the conclave in the Vatican to elect the new pope.

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday morning, local time, aged 88.

The pope's death prompts a period of mourning, after which all cardinals under the age of 80 will convene to pick the next leader of the Catholic Church.

Only cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to vote, although they can take part in the conclave.

There are currently 252 cardinals, 138 of whom are cardinal electors.

Cardinal Mafi of Tonga and Cardinal Ribat of Papua New Guinea will travel to Rome to take part.

The Bishop of Lae in Papua New Guinea Rosario Menezes said Pope Francis, who visited the country in September last year, has done a lot for the church in PNG.

"This is our privilege, also because of Pope Francis, we have the first cardinal in the person of Cardinal John Ribat," Menezes said

The Vatican confirmed Cardinal Mafi's participation in the conclave to RNZ, and the Catholic church in Papua New Guinea has confirmed travel arrangements are being made for Cardinal Ribat to travel to Rome.

Menezes said they have been flooded with phone calls and messages from people wanting to confirm the news of the Pope's death.

He said earlier this year when the Pope fell ill, there were a lot fake posts about his death being circulated on social media.

"We had to call a press conference to make it clear to the people that when Pope dies, there are protocols to follow, and we will get the news from the Vatican," he said.

"To make sure that it is true, there were many calls in the evenings and just to confirm that it is true. So people have been very much saddened, and the condolences are pouring in."

Pope Francis' body will be taken into St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning at 0700 GMT, in a procession that will be led by cardinals. He will lie in state there until Friday evening.

His funeral service will be held at 10:00am the following day in St Peter's Square, in front of the 16th century basilica. It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals.

(Source: RNZ)