Why Pope Francis chose this church as his final resting place

Why Pope Francis chose this church as his final resting place

The "Pope of the People" chose a church in the center of Rome that holds significance to him throughout his papacy.

The Pope will be buried in the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major) in Rome, as he requested in his will. His tomb is made of marble from Liguria, the native region of his grandparents.

Francis wanted to be buried in a “simple tomb, without special decoration and with the only inscription 'Franciscus'”, in what was his favorite church in Rome.

Pope Francis chose a simple burial site in a Roman church. According to The Guardian, the niche previously housed candlesticks.

The burial ritual is private, without transmission to the outside. The tomb that will house the body of the Argentine Pope was made of marble from Liguria, a region in northwestern Italy, and will bear the inscription “Franciscus”, the Pope's name in Latin, and the reproduction of his pectoral cross. It is located in one of the side naves of the basilica, between the Pauline Chapel (where you can find the 6th-century Byzantine icon Salus Populi …

In the midst of the funeral of Pope Francis, from the Vatican they confirmed that his tomb was built with Ligurian marble, the Italian region from which his grandparents came. Rolandas Makrickas, co-priest of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, revealed that it was an explicit wish of the Pontiff that his eternal rest was linked to the “stone of Liguria, the land of his grandparents”, according to Vatican News. Vincenzo Sívori, Francis’ great-gran…