Pope Francis’ coffin has arrived at St. Mary Major Basilica, (Santa Maria Maggiore) where he will be buried in a private ceremony later today.
The coffin was carried into the basilica, escorted by the Vatican’s Swiss Guards.
The archbishop who administers the basilica said on the eve of the funeral that Pope Francis chose his place of burial in St. Mary Major Basilica, near an icon of the Madonna that he revered, because it reflects his “humble, simple and essential’’ life.
Pope Francis insisted that his tomb remain simple, stressing that people should still come to the basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary “to venerate the Madonna, not to see the tomb of a pope,” Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas said.
He will be buried beneath a simple headstone made of marble from Liguria, the Italian region of his mother’s family, engraved with his name in Latin: Franciscus.
The tomb is placed in a niche next to the chapel where the Salus Populi Romani icon that the pope revered is located.
The basilica also has significance for the Jesuit pope. It is where the founder of the religious order, St. Ignatius Loyola, celebrated his first Mass on Christmas Day in 1538.
