By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
April 26, 2025
06:22 a. m.
Abr. 26, 2025
06:22 a. m.
The coffin with the remains of Pope Francis was deposited this April 26 in the Santa María la Mayor Basilica, in a grave prepared according to the wishes of the Argentine Pontiff, whose devotion to the Virgin Safety of the Roman people Almisted in this temple, it was known.
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Pope Francis’s funeral courtship arrived at the Santa María la Mayor Basilica after touring the streets of Rome from the Plaza de San Pedro, where the Mass of Exequias was held before about 200,000 people.
Many faithful wanted to receive him at the foot of this Marian temple located in the Esquilino, one of the seven hills of Rome. Both in the frontal and back of the basilica, there were large screens to follow the funeral.
The crowd broke into applause at the beginning of the funeral held in the Vatican and also when Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re remembered in his homily the innumerable times that the Holy Father asked the faithful to pray for him.
In 1903 it was the last time that a pontiff had been buried outside the Vatican. This happened with the body of Pope Leo XIII, which was carried from the Basilica of San Pedro to San Juan de Letán, the Cathedral of Rome.
After slowly touring the nearly 6 kilometers that separate both basilicas, the car with the coffin of Pope Francis ascended by the road Cavour Until the main entrance, where it was received by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Arcipreste Coadjtor de Santa María la Mayor.
The coffin was also received by a group of poor from the city of Rome, by the hand of the community of Sant’Egidio, those whom Pope Francis showed his love until the end.
The Holy Father wanted to be buried in this Basilica because, inside, there is the Virgin icon Safety of the Roman peoplethe protector of the people of Rome to which he “hugged” more than 100 occasions.
The devotion of the Holy Father for this image dates back to before being chosen successor of San Pedro. When he was traveling to Rome, he always entrusted to her. Since 2013, as Pope, he visited her before and after each apostolic trip he made, to ask for his intercession and thank him for the fruits of his trip.
Despite his fragile state of health, the Holy Father could say goodbye to this Virgin Shortly before dying, April 12.
The pontiff was buried in a niche of the central nave, between the Paulina chapel, where the icon is located, and the chapel Sforza. In fact, the place chosen for the Holy Father’s niche was previously a room where the candlesticks are stored.
The grave took place privately and in privacy. The rite was the same that is carried out for any pontiff. They were present, among others, Camarlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vicar of the Diocese of Rome, the Prefect of the Pontifical House, the master of ceremonies and the relatives of Pope Francis.
The Camarlengo seals, the prefecture of the Pontifical House and the Liturgical Ceremonies Office were printed on the coffin. In addition, a notary wrote an act that attests that the burial took place.
Finally, the coffin was sprayed with blessed water and the Salve Regina was prayed. The simple tomb of the Holy Father is located on the ground, with the only inscription “Franciscus” and prepared with a marble of Liguria, from northern Italy, the land where his grandparents were born that later emigrated to Argentina.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
Graduated in journalism and advertising from the CEU San Pablo University of Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. It has been a senior correspondent for ACI Press and Ewtn News at the Vatican for two years and is currently a correspondent for Europe based on Spain.
