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For the three days, crowds entered the Vatican Basilica coming through Via della Conciliazione to pay homage to the late Pope Francis. A steady of people ending on Friday, April 25, Liberation Day in Italy - and converges towards the heart of St. Peter’s Basilica, where the Pontiff’s body is exposed for the third and final day to the veneration of the world.
Pope Francis’ tomb is made of Ligurian (Italian) marble; from the native area of his parents, with the inscription “FRANCISCUS” and a reproduction of his pectoral cross, according to details just released by the Vatican. The burial location is the niche of the side aisle, between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of Our Lady of Health of the Roman People) and the Sforza Chapel in Saint Mary Major Basilica. It is also located in proximity of the altar dedicated to St. Francis.
Meanwhile, thousands of journalists are part of the media machine that will cover the approach to the Pontiff's funeral is already in motion. The journalists' stations are arranged at a careful distance from each other. An operator sets up the video camera on the tripod, while a correspondent repeats to himself the text he has written down on a piece of paper. Several different languages can be heard Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, English and more mingle.
Pope Francis, a pilgrim of hope, a guide and a companion on the journey towards the great goal to which we are called, Heaven, died on April 21 of the Holy Year 2025, at 7:35 in the morning, while the light of Easter illuminated the second day of the Octave, Easter Monday, the beloved Pastor of the Church, Francis, passed from this world to the Father. The entire Christian community, especially the poor, praised God for the gift of his service rendered with courage and fidelity to the Gospel and to the mystical Bride of Christ.
Francis was the 266th Pope. His memory remains in the heart of the Church and of all humanity.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected Pope on March 13, 2013, was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, to Piedmontese emigrants: his father Mario was an accountant, employed on the railways, while his mother, Regina Sivori, took care of the house and the education of her five children. After graduating as a chemical technician, he then chose the path of the priesthood, initially entering the diocesan seminary and, on March 11, 1958, moving on to the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. On Dec. 13, 1969 he was ordained as a priest.
He was consecrated as bishop in 1992 and created cardinal on 21 February 2001 by John Paul II. He became pope on March 13, 2013.
After being hospitalized on July 4, 2021, for ten days, for surgery at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, Francis returned to the same hospital on February 14, 2025 for a 38-day stay due to bilateral pneumonia. After returning to the Vatican, he spent the last weeks of his life at Casa Santa Marta, dedicating himself to the end and with the same passion to his Petrine ministry, even though he had not yet fully recovered. On Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, he appeared for the last time from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to impart the solemn Urbi et Orbi blessing.
Sources: Vatican.va - Vatican News https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2025/04/25/0280/00505.html
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