The coffin of late Pope Francis is carried by pallbearers into Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica

Pope Francis was laid to rest following a solemn funeral Mass held in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican confirmed. The pontiff, who passed away on Monday at the age of 88, was interred during a brief, 30-minute ceremony at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s oldest and most revered churches.

Footage released by the Holy See captured the moving final rites: cardinals affixing red wax seals to Pope Francis’s wooden and zinc coffin, while Cardinal Kevin Farrell, serving as camerlengo and overseeing Vatican affairs until a new pope is elected, sprinkled holy water over the casket before it was lowered into its final resting place within an alcove of the basilica.

In keeping with the simplicity that characterized his papacy, Pope Francis had requested a plain tomb near the altar of Saint Francis. Above the tomb hangs a reproduction of the pectoral cross he wore throughout his lifetime. The marble tombstone, crafted from stone sourced in Liguria — the region of Italy where his ancestors once lived — bears only a single Latin inscription: Franciscus.

During the funeral rites, Youssef Absi, Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, offered a blessing over the coffin in a poignant moment witnessed by thousands gathered in Vatican City. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, made history as the first Latin American and first Jesuit to ascend to the papacy when he was elected in 2013. He took the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, embodying a spirit of humility and service throughout his tenure.

Pope Francis had long expressed a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary, often visiting Santa Maria Maggiore to pray before and after his international journeys. In 2023, he publicly shared his wish to be entombed there, a request clearly detailed in his final will. His burial in Santa Maria Maggiore marks a return to tradition, as the basilica, though the resting place of seven earlier popes, had not hosted a papal burial since Clement IX in 1669.

Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four papal basilicas in Rome, holds some of Catholicism’s most treasured relics, including the famed icon of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, believed to have been painted by Saint Luke. The basilica also houses the tomb of famed architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, designer of St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis’s final resting place within this historic basilica stands as a testament to his lifelong devotion, humility, and enduring spiritual legacy.