In the final stage of his earthly journey, Pope Francis was entombed in the papal Basilica of St Mary Major as a sign of his deep devotion to Mary and his desire to be accessible to the people. Source: Crux.
Some 150,000 people lined Rome’s streets on Saturday to bid a final farewell to Pope Francis as his coffin was carried in an open popemobile during a procession from St Peter’s Basilica to the Basilica of St Mary Major.
Described by veteran Vatican reporter and analyst Elizabetta Pique as “the last surprise of a Pope of surprises,” the popemobile was an unexpected addition to the funeral motor procession, as observers had expected a dark hearse or a similar vehicle to carry the coffin to its final destination.
Once the Pope’s coffin arrived at St Mary Major, it was welcomed by a group of poor and homeless, as a sign of those whom he most prioritised during his life and ministry.
Children then placed roses on the altar inside of the Pauline Chapel of the basilica, which houses the famed icon Maria Salus Populi Romani (Mary Health of the Roman People), which Pope Francis visited after his election, and before and after every international trip.
In each of those visits, Francis would leave a bouquet of roses as a sign of his devotion to Mary, and his gratitude for the graces he’d received.
His last visit to the chapel was on April 12, just over a week before he died. He’d been driven to the basilica, where he delivered a bouquet of flowers but did not get out of the car.
Francis’s tomb is located just outside of the chapel, in a niche that had been used for storing candelabra.
He was entombed during a 30-minute rite that was presided over by Camerlegno Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who governs the Holy See during the sede vacante, and a handful of elder members of the College of Cardinals.
His tombstone, which bears the simple engraving of his papal name in Latin, Franciscus, is made of a greyish slate that comes from the Italian region of Liguria, in honour of his maternal great-grandfather, Vincenzo Sivori, who travelled from Italy to Argentina in the 1800s.
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Francis, ‘the people’s pope,’ entombed in his favorite Roman basilica (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
