The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta within Vatican City, setting in motion the process to select his successor.

Cardinals from 71 different countries have assembled in the Sistine Chapel to cast their votes for the next pope.

Many individuals from various nations pray in the pews of Roman Catholic churches in the northwest of England, which is the most Catholic area outside of London.

One of the leading candidates for the pope is Cardinal Peter Turkson, a Ghanaian clergyman who might become the first Black Pope.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, who is of Fante ethnicity, was born on October 11, 1948, in Wassa Nsuta, Western Ghana, to a Catholic father and a Methodist mother.

He is the fourth of ten children, and his mother sold vegetables, while his father was a talented carpenter. According to reports, one of his paternal uncles was Muslim.

From 1962 to 1969, he attended St. Teresa's Seminary in Amisano, and from 1969 to 1971, he attended St. Peter's Regional Seminary in Pedu, Cape Coast.

He subsequently pursued his education at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he obtained a licence in Sacred Scripture from 1976 and 1980. From 1987 to 1992, he worked on his PhD thesis.