Vatican City.- The coffin with the remains of Pope Francis was buried today in a simple tomb of the Santa María la Mayor Basilica, in the center of Rome, in compliance with his last will.
The transfer of the coffin from the Basilica of San Pedro to that Roman Church began at 12:08 local time, shortly after the end of the exequial mass, chaired by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, with the participation of more than 250 thousand people, including 180 delegations from around the world, who gave their goodbye to the Holy Father.
The funeral procession departed from the city of the Vatican through the Porta del Perugino, passed through the Prince Amadeo Gallery of Savoy-Aosta and continues its tour of Vittorio Emanuele Avenue to Piazza Venezia, gave a turn towards the route of the imperial forums, crossed the side of the coliseum and continued through the tad and Merullana roads.
Photo: PL TAKING
On the way dozens of more than 150 thousand people fired the passage of the caravan, in the midst of strong security measures, until its arrival in the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor.
In his will, dated June 29, 2022, the Supreme Pontiff asked that his mortal remains be buried in that church, the greatest of those dedicated in Rome to the Virgin Mary, because “I have always trusted my life and my priestly and episcopal ministry to the mother of our Lord.”
“I want my last earthly trip to end precisely in this former Marian sanctuary where I went to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic trip to confidence with confidence my intentions to the immaculate mother and thank her her docile and maternal care,” he said.
The Holy Father, “feeling that the end of my earthly life is approaching and with living hope in eternal life,” he requested that his grave “must be on earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus.”
In the text, the Bishop of Rome dedicated a few words “to those who have loved me and will continue to pray for me”, to give them their reward, who offered “the suffering that was present in the last part of my life for peace in the world and the fraternity between the peoples.”
The burial in the niche of the side nave of the Liberian Basilica, between the Paolina chapel and the Sforza chapel, began at 13:11 local time, without public access, and was preceded by the song of four psalms and accompanied by five intercessions, after which the Our Father was sang.
After the final prayer, on the coffin that contains the remains of Pope Francis, the seals of the Camarlengo of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, as well as that of the Prefecture of the Pontifical House, the office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Roman Pontiff and the Liberian chapter were printed.
Then the coffin was placed in the sepulcher and sprayed with blessed water while the regina Caeli was sang, after which the notary of the Liberian chapter wrote the authentic act that certified the burial and read it to those present.
The death of Pope Francis represented a hard blow to humanity, since his physical departure left a vacuum at complex times for the world, although he also reads his work and his inspiring and imperishable example.
){kind=link}