Yesterday, April 26, Pope Francis was buried in Santa Maria Maggiore.
Following his funeral, images of Pope Francis’ tomb have been made public.
At the age of 88, Pope Francis, who served as pope for more than ten years, passed away quietly on Monday at Saint Martha House in Vatican City.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, I must announce with deep sorrow the death of our Holy Father Francis,” said Camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a heartfelt statement at the time, confirming the news of his passing. Francis, the Bishop of Rome, arrived back at the Father’s house at 7:35 this morning.
He devoted his entire life to serving the Lord and his Church.
He taught us to live out the principles of the gospel with courage, faithfulness, and love for everyone, especially the most vulnerable and impoverished.
“With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite, merciful love of God, One and Tribune.”
Following his funeral yesterday in Rome, which reportedly drew 250,000 people, Pope Francis has finally been laid to rest.
The late 88-year-old was buried in a private ceremony at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, six kilometers from St. Peter’s Square, following the public funeral.
Pope Francis specifically asked to be buried at St. Mary Major, despite the fact that popes are typically buried in Vatican City, beneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
Roman Catholic devotees have started going to his grave since his burial. A day after he was said farewell by hundreds of thousands of people, they filed past the plain white monument in St. Mary Major Basilica.
‘Franciscus’, the Latin name for the Pope, was written on the tomb with a single white rose.
It was illuminated by a gentle glow, and the wall above it featured a replica of the late pontiff’s pectoral cross.
There’s a reason the tomb is so basic. According to PBS News, Pope Francis is thought to have intended his tomb to symbolize his “humble” life.
According to the publication, in 2022, Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas proposed that the late pope be laid to rest in St. Mary Major.
Makrickas brought up the issue, recalling Pope Francis’s statement that he wanted his own tomb to be straightforward since he wanted the Virgin Mary basilica “to venerate the Madonna, not to see the tomb of a pope.”