He said that a “place is already prepared” for his burial in one of the oldest and most important Marian shrines in the West.
“I want to be buried in St. Mary Major,” Francis said. “Because of my great devotion.”
Pope Francis would be the first pope to be buried outside of the Vatican’s grotto crypt in St. Peter’s Basilica in more than a century. (Pope Leo XIII was buried in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in 1903.)
The last pope to have been buried in St. Mary Major was Clement IX, who died in 1669. He is one of six popes buried in the Marian basilica.
Pope Francis has made more than 100 visits to the Basilica of St. Mary Major since becoming pope. He visits the basilica to venerate the icon known as the “Salus Populi Romani” — “Mary, Protection of the Roman People” — before and after every international trip. Recently, Pope Francis placed a Golden Rose before the icon on Dec. 8.
In the interview, Francis recalled how he would also regularly visit the Marian basilica before he was pope on Sundays when he was in Rome, underlining his strong connection with the basilica.
