Pope Francis’ tomb has been revealed in new images following the Roman Catholic pontiff’s funeral in the Vatican City on Saturday, April 26.
The simple stone tomb displays the late pope’s name “Franciscus” in Latin alongside a single white rose and a crucifix on the wall.
Pope Francis was laid to rest at the Santa Maria Maggiore church — also known as the Basilica of St. Mary Major — in Rome in a private ceremony after his funeral, attended by around 250,000 people, on the morning of Saturday, April 26, in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City.
The pontiff’s coffin was later transported in a public procession to the church where he was buried. Francis is the first pope in over a century not to be interred at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
Pope Francis died at age 88 of a cerebral stroke on April 21. In his final will he expressed his wish to be buried in a “simple” tomb in the ground,” without particular ornamentation, bearing only the [Latin] inscription: Franciscus.”
“Throughout my life, and during my ministry as a priest and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Francis wrote in his testament.
“I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care.”
Mourners have lined up outside Santa Maria Maggiore church following the funeral to pay their respects to the pontiff, reported multiple outlets, including the BBC. The tomb opened on the second day of nine days of official mourning for Francis.
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Santa Maria Maggiore held deep poignancy for Francis and was one of his favorite places in Rome.
Father Patrick Briscoe, a Dominican friar and the editor of Our Sunday Visitor magazine, told PEOPLE, “It’s especially beautiful because of Pope Francis’ love for the Basilica of Mary Major, which began when he was a cardinal.”
“Whenever he made trips to the Vatican as a cardinal, he would come and pray in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary there, the Salus Populi Romani, and he continued that practice as pope … it became a signature of his apostolic visits.”
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