The College of Cardinals has set April 18th as the commencement date for the Conclave that will elect the successor to Pope John Paul II.

A Vatican spokesman has announced that the Cardinals will hold a Mass that morning and then retreat to the Sistine Chapel that afternoon to begin the Conclave. According to church law, the Cardinals may hold one ballot on the first afternoon of a Conclave, which means it may even be just 12 days till the new Pope is decided upon.

Church leaders have also said that the name of the Cardinal that Pope John Paul II named two years ago will remain a secret, and will certainly not be announced to the public. The Cardinals this morning reported that John Paul's spiritual testament did not name the mystery Cardinal, as some had speculated.

The Vatican has however been reported as bowing to Pope John Paul II’s request to alter the centuries-old tradition of simply letting up white smoke when the new Pope is elected at the end of the Conclave. Pope John Paul had requested for the ringing of bells to take place in addition to the white smoke to announce the election of the successor – a request that the Vatican has allowed.

Usually black smoke will be shown if no final decision has been after a ballot between the Cardinals in the Conclave. However, white smoke will be given off finally when a new Pope has been decided upon. The smoke comes from the burning of the papers of the secret ballots, and a chemical added to bring out the correct colour.

In addition, Archbishop Piero Marini reported that before John Paul died on Saturday, he made a request "to be buried in the ground" and not to be placed in the above-ground tomb. Therefore, he will be buried in the tomb left vacant after the remains of Pope John XXIII were exhumed from St Peter’s Basilica in 2001, and transferred to the main floor after a beautification service.

As Pope John Paul II is laid to rest, a white silk veil will be placed over his face and a rosary placed in his hands. Then the body will be clad in liturgical vestments and the white mitre.

One tradition that will remain untouched is that the body will be placed inside three separate coffins. One made of wood, another of zinc and then of wood again. This was historically designed to slow the process of decomposition of the body.

Along with the body, a small bag of commemorative medals that were issued during the Pope’s 26-years will also be placed in the coffin, and a document with a brief description of the Pope’s life in Latin.

The personal physician reported that the Pope "passed away slowly, with pain and suffering which he endured with great human dignity. The Holy Father could not utter a single word before passing away. Just as happened in the last days he could not speak, he was forced to silence."

As of Wednesday morning, it was reported that at least 1 million people have gathered now to St Peter’s Square in Rome. Within 24 hours of the Pope’s body being put on display for mourners to pay their respects, an estimated 600,000 people visited and streamed past.

Authorities have been warned to expect millions of visitors in Rome for Friday’s funeral, which will take place at 10am local time (8am GMT) – with an astonishing 2 million Poles alone expected to gather.

Much of the Vatican will be sealed off and huge security efforts are being put in place so that leading political figures can safely offer their condolences in memory of the late great Pope.

Many commentators are saying that the new Pope is likely to hold similar ideologies of pro-life and pro-family values as Pope John Paul II appointed all but three of the 117 Cardinals that are allowed to vote in the Conclave.

The doors of St Peter’s Basilica were opened on Monday evening for the public and since then the doors have only been closed for a few hours for cleaning before being opened up once more to the crowd.