Pope Francis to Rest at Beloved Marian Basilica

Pope Francis, remembered as a humble shepherd of the people, will make his final journey through the heart of Rome to a place that held deep meaning in his spiritual life

the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. His burial there, away from the traditional papal crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, reflects the quiet simplicity that defined much of his papacy.

The 88-year-old pontiff passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, leaving behind a legacy of compassion, reform, and tireless efforts to build bridges — between faiths, between people, and between tradition and change. The Vatican announced that his funeral will be held on Saturday, April 26, in St. Peter’s Square, with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presiding over the rites.

But the final resting place Pope Francis chose is a departure from what the world has come to expect. In a testament written before his passing, he requested to be buried not beneath the Basilica that dominates Vatican City, but instead in the earth of Santa Maria Maggiore — a church he visited over 100 times during his decade as pope.

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There, among the relics and the age-old icon of the Virgin Mary known as Salus Populi Romani — the “Protectress of the Roman People” — Francis found comfort. He would stop by to pray there before and after every overseas trip. It was a place of personal pilgrimage, and it will now become the sanctuary where he rests in peace.

“I want to be buried in the earth, simple, without particular decoration,” he wrote in his final wishes. The inscription on his grave, as he requested, will bear only one word: Franciscus, his papal name in Latin.

The last pope to be buried outside Vatican grounds was Leo XIII in 1903, making Francis’s choice not only deeply personal, but also historically significant.

The days ahead will see the beginning of the traditional Novendiale — a nine-day period of mourning, prayer, and remembrance. From April 23 to 25, the Pope’s body will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, giving the faithful a chance to say farewell.