Vacant papacy gets special stamps

The Pope was buried in a private ceremony on Friday

A set of special stamps marking the vacant papacy are due to go on sale early this week, the Vatican says.

Collectors were expected to rush to snap up the 700,000 stamps, which will be valid only until the Catholic Church's cardinals elect a new pope.

The stamps will be on sale only at the tiny city-state's post offices, and at tourist shops around St Peter's Square.

The process of electing a new pope will begin on 18 April and could take more than a week.

Pope John Paul II died on 2 April after a long illness.

Millions of people around the world watched John Paul II's funeral Mass on television and giant screens on Friday.

His grave in the basilica is marked by a simple marble slab inscribed with his name in Latin, Ioannes Paulus II, and the years of his papacy, 1978-2005.