VATICAN, Italy – Pope Francis was buried outside the grounds of St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, April 26, 2025, making him the first pope to be buried outside the church in more than 120 years.
Inside the Basilica, the Pope’s coffin was held for a few moments before the entrance to the Pauline Chapel so that he could face the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani before being taken to the niche beside it prepared for his tomb.
“But over the course of 266 pontiffs, there have been numerous burial places,” says historian Donald Prudlo, Warren Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Tulsa.
“When a Catholic thinks about the death of the Pope, they tend to gravitate to St. Peter’s,” he told Vatican News. “And it’s true that more than half of the popes in the Church’s history are laid to rest within Saint Peter’s,” dating back to the original church structure built by Constantine, the first Christian emperor
But if Pope Francis’ choice to be buried outside St. Peter’s, in what is now Vatican City, “is surprising… it is certainly not novel,” Prudlo said.
Which two popes have been joined by Pope Francis
In the past 200 years, two Popes—Pius IX in the wake of the Italian Risorgimento and Leo XIII, his immediate successor—found their final resting places in Roman churches, St. Lawrence Outside the Walls and St. John Lateran, respectively.
And over the centuries, various popes were laid to rest in different Italian cities, in France (during the period popes resided at Avignon), and even as far away as Germany and Ukraine.
Prudlo notes that Pope Francis is the eighth Roman Pontiff whose final resting place lies within the walls of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
“There were some from the Middle Ages, Honorius III and Nicholas IV,” he said, before becoming “a particular place of papal burial in the 16th century.”
Pope Francis final resting place in St. Mary Major, the world’s most important Marian Church.White marble from the Italian land of his ancestors. Franciscus, the only inscription. A reproduction of his pectoral cross.
Two popes in particular—Pius V, a Dominican; and Sixtus V, a Franciscan—have been joined by the first Jesuit Pope. “So in a lot of ways,” said Prudlo, it’s a place particularly friendly to the religious orders.”
Where exactly was Pope Francis laid to rest
Pope Francis has now been laid to rest in the burial niche in the side nave between the Sforza Chapel and the Pauline Chapel, which houses the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani.
His tomb is white and made of simple marble, perfectly in line with Pope Francis’ devotion to St. Francis, the saint of simplicity.
The crucifix reflects the one on his pectoral cross, which he carried throughout his papacy.
In a break with tradition, Pope Francis will be the first pope in over a century to be buried outside of the Vatican.We take you inside the Santa Maria Maggiore church, in Rome, which will be Pope Francis’ final resting place.
The tomb is made of Ligurian marble as a tribute to the family origins of Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
He was the son of Mario Bergoglio and Regina Maria Sivori, both of Italian descent, from Liguria and Piedmont.
Who presided over Pope Francis’ burial
His burial ceremony was not public and took place in his favourite church, where he often retreated to pray, namely the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, Rome.
Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell presided over the burial and the placement of the pope within the niche prepared for him.
Only the Pope’s relatives, officials, and clergy were allowed to attend this burial ceremony.
Pope Francis has now been buried and entombed in his final resting place in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Following the burial, the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome has opened its doors, and long lines of pilgrims, visitors, faithful, and even tourists have already begun to form to pay tribute to this simple burial site of the Pope.
There is silence and prayer, but already many people are waiting to pay their respects to the late Pope.
Why St. Mary Major is a gem in its true nature
St. Mary Major is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome and the only one to have preserved its original Early Christian structure, although enriched by numerous later additions. It is a true gem, full of invaluable beauty.
Inside, notable are the refined mosaic decorations: the Early Christian stories from the Bible.
The gold that covers the coffered ceiling of the central nave is said to have been the first to arrive from the Americas, donated to Pope Alexander VI by the Spanish Crown.
Throughout his entire papacy, Pope Francis visited this place of prayer more than 120 times.
Pope Francis’ coffin has been entombed.The Pope’s final resting place is the Basilica of St. Mary Major in central Rome.Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to watch as his coffin was brought from the Vatican to the Basilica.The Pope is the first in over a
Pope Francis was always deeply captivated and devoted to this icon, and it is beautiful, in accordance with his wishes, that he now rests for eternity beside it.
It is worth noting that in December 2023, Pope Francis had honoured the Salus Populi Romani with the so-called Golden Rose, a papal tradition of mediaeval origin meant to pay homage as a symbol of devotion and prayer.
