The Pope won't be buried in the Vatican — the place revealed
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The Pope will be buried not in the Vatican, as is usually the case, but in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. This decision was made in accordance with his personal will.
CNN reported it on Monday, April 21.
What is special about the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore?
Pope Francis will be the first pope in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican. Although popes are usually buried in the grottoes beneath St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, Francis' final resting place will be the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore on the other side of the River Tiber in Rome.
He revealed his plans to break with tradition and be buried there in December 2023, explaining that he felt a "very strong connection" with the basilica, which he used to visit on Sunday mornings to honor the Virgin Mary.
"I want to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore. Because it is my great devotion," Francis said then.
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is of particular importance to the late Pope. It is here that the icon of Our Lady "Salvific Health of the Roman Peoples", one of the most revered shrines in Rome, is kept. The main altar of the church also houses the relics of the Holy Apostle Matthew.
Although seven other popes are buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, Francis will be the first since Leo XIII, who died in 1903, not to be buried in St. Peter's Basilica.
It is important that it was in Santa Maria Maggiore that Francis held an international prayer for peace in Ukraine in 2022.
As a reminder, the Pope Francis died on April 21 at the age of 88. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, reacted to the tragic news.
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