Pope Francis Laid to Rest at His Beloved Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome

Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88, was laid to rest in his favorite Roman church, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, following a solemn funeral mass in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican announced on Saturday.

The intimate burial ceremony began at 1:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) and lasted around 30 minutes. Vatican footage captured the emotional final moments, as cardinals marked the pope’s wooden and zinc coffin with traditional red wax seals.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, currently overseeing the Vatican’s operations as camerlengo until a new pope is elected, sprinkled the coffin with holy water before it was gently lowered into a specially prepared tomb inside an alcove of the historic basilica.

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Above the resting place hangs a reproduction of the pectoral cross Pope Francis often wore during his lifetime.

In keeping with his lifelong commitment to humility, the late pontiff had requested a simple, unadorned tomb near the altar dedicated to Saint Francis.

His tombstone bears only a single inscription—“Franciscus”—his name in Latin. The marble for the tomb was sourced from Liguria, the region in northwestern Italy that once was home to his ancestors.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis had long expressed a special devotion to the Virgin Mary. Throughout his papacy, he made it a personal tradition to pray at Santa Maria Maggiore before departing on international trips and immediately upon returning to Rome.

In 2023, he officially declared his wish to be buried there, choosing a resting place that reflected both his personal spirituality and his deep connection to the church’s rich history.

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Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas, is steeped in religious significance. Built around 432 AD during the reign of Pope Sixtus III, it houses some of the Catholic Church’s most revered relics, including an ancient icon of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus, believed to have been painted by Saint Luke.

It also serves as the final resting place for several other notable figures, such as the famed sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the mastermind behind St. Peter’s Square.

Though seven popes are buried at Santa Maria Maggiore, Pope Francis is the first to be interred there since Pope Clement IX in 1669. In recent centuries, it had become tradition for popes to be buried within the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica.

The quiet dignity of Francis’s final resting place mirrors the values he championed throughout his papacy: humility, compassion, and a deep, abiding faith. His legacy now lies enshrined within the walls of a church that stood as a symbol of comfort and inspiration throughout his remarkable journey.