Pope Francis’ burial

Basilica of St Mary Major, where Pope Francis will be buried

In the history of the Catholic Church, there have been 266 popes, and only about 30 of them have been buried outside of Rome. About 90 popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica (21 in the Vatican grottoes), 22 in St. John the Lateran, seven in Santa Maria Maggiore, five in St. Mary of Minerva, five at the Basilica St. Lawrence Outside the Walls, three at St. Paul Outside the Walls, and one in the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles. Leo I the Great is the first pope buried in St. Peter’s. Over the centuries several popes have chosen Roman basilicas for their burial spot. The last was Leo XIII in 1903, who wanted his tomb in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Pope Francis has also instead arranged for his tomb to be in another basilica — the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Pope Francis had a special connection with the basilica. He prayed before the icon of the “Salus Populi Romani” before and after each apostolic journey. He went there on the first day of his pontificate. The pope — a Jesuit — was tied to this basilica because it was there that St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass. Pope Francis will not be the first pope to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, however. The basilica contains the tombs of Honorius III, Nicholas IV, St. Pius V, Sixtus V, Paul V, Clement VIII, and Clement IX. St Pius V is of particular interest to the Maltese people, because he sent his architect Francesco Lapparelli to build our capital city Valletta in the 1560s. He is also the Pope who introduced the white cassock for a Pope. Since he was Dominican, he wore white in the summer Roman heat. He liked it and kept wearing white, and so did all his successors.