Pope’s tomb ‘humble, simple and essential’, St. Mary Major Basilica’s senior priest says

April 26, 2025 , 10:23 AM

(April 26, 2025) – Pope Francis’ final resting place will reflect his life in its humble and simple style, Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, a senior priest at the Basilica of St Mary Major, where the pontiff will be buried, told reporters on the eve of his funeral on Friday, April 25.

Eschewing much of the Vatican’s traditional pomp, Francis has opted for simpler funeral rites and will become the first pope in over a century to be buried outside the Vatican. His chosen resting place is one of the main four of Christendom, a site dear to him because of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God.

The church is home of a venerated byzantine Mary icon – Salus Populi Romani (salvation of the Roman people) — where Jorge Mario Bergoglio prayed before embarking on and returning from each overseas trip.

Makrickas recounted how he and Francis had discussed plans for his burial place five years ago. Initially thinking of following tradition, the pope had changed his mind after receiving word from Mary to prepare his tomb, Makrickas said.

The pope’s tomb will be in a niche in a side aisle of the basilica, with just the word “Franciscus,” his name in Latin, engraved on the marble, Makrickas said.

Prior to Francis, the last pope to be buried outside the Vatican was Leo XIII, who died in 1903.

St Mary Major houses the bodies of seven popes and several religious figures, including Cardinal Bernard Law, former Archbishop of Boston, who became infamous for his role in covering up child sexual abuse by priests.

The church has dominated the Eternal City for 16 centuries. Every year on August 5, Romans gather in the Esquilino district, now one of Rome’s most multi-ethnic, to celebrate the miracle of La Madonna Della Neve, or Madonna of the Snows.

A Christian legend, depicted on a 13th-century mosaic in the basilica’s majestic loggia, tells of a miraculous summer snowfall which occurred in 358AD on the future site of the church.

(Production: Gabriele Pileri, Hanna Rantala)

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