Pope Francis says in his will that he wants to be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, where six other popes are buried, in a simple, undecorated tomb with only the inscription “Franciscus,” according to the Vatican, which released the document on Monday.
“I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine,” Francis wrote in his will, which was dated June 29, 2022. He specified that he had visited the church at the beginning and the end of every apostolic trip he took during his 12-year papacy. On his first day as pope in 2013, he slipped out of the Vatican to pray there.
Francis also visited St. Mary Major every time he returned to the Vatican after a hospital stay, including on March 23, when he left Gemelli Hospital after a 38-day stay. On that occasion, he did not get out of the car.
In his will, Francis specified that “the tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration.” He asked that the tomb be placed in the aisle next to the Pauline Chapel, where an important Marian icon, the Salus Populi Romani, is located.
Francis said that in being buried there, he wanted to thank the Virgin “for her docile and maternal care.”
Tradition holds that the icon was made by Saint Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of painters. It is an image Francis was particularly devoted to, continuing a Jesuit tradition. According to the basilica’s website, since the Jesuit order was founded, Jesuits have “fostered devotion to the icon” by distributing copies of the icon throughout the world.”
Francis first revealed in 2023 during an interview for a Mexican TV program that he wanted to be buried at St. Mary Major. In the program, he said he wanted to be laid to rest there “because of my great devotion.”
On Monday, the Vatican also released Francis’ death certificate, which said he died at 7:35 a.m. Monday local time of a cerebral stroke that caused a coma and “irreversible” cardiac arrest.
Prof. Andrea Arcangeli, the director of the Vatican’s health offices, wrote that the pope had arterial hypertension, multiple bronchiectasis and Type II diabetes, and that he had been affected by episodes of acute respiratory failure. These took place when he was in the hospital with pneumonia in both lungs.
The date that Francis signed his will is the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul and a holiday in Rome. He says in the document that he had written it “sensing that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching with lively hope in eternal life.” He made reference to “the suffering that has been present in the last part of my life.” A year earlier, he had undergone colon surgery, the first time he was admitted to Gemelli Hospital.
In closing his will, Francis asked God to “give the deserved reward to those who loved me and will continue to pray for me,” echoing a refrain that closed many of his addresses.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
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