Pope Francis won't be buried in Vatican like predecessors

Mon, 21 April 2025

17:30

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, reports CNN.

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," Francis said. "Because it is my great devotion." 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.

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