Sacred Mysteries: Why Pope Francis chose his place of burial

Telegraph

25-04-2025

Pope Francis was the first pope to take the name of St Francis of Assisi, 'the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation'. A mosaic of St Francis is prominent in the church where he has chosen to be buried, St Mary Major.
The mosaic was put up in the apse inside the church by Pope Nicholas IV, the first member of the Franciscan Order elected pope, dying four years later, two days before Easter 1292. That pope appears as a smaller kneeling figure amid the mosaics of saints against gold, signifying heaven. He is buried in St Mary Major as 'A son of St Francis'.
This is not, however, why Pope Francis wanted to be buried in the basilica, which he visited dozens of times as pope, always before and after a foreign trip. He came in first place to pray before the ancient icon of the Virgin Mary and Child, entitled Salus Populi Romani.
This title, signifying both the health and the salvation of the Roman people, is a pre-Christian idea. The icon, of Byzantine convention, is reputed to have arrived in Rome early in the reign of Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), who sent St Augustine of Canterbury to convert England. Gregory was said to have invoked God by the virtue of the icon to quell a plague in Rome.
Most icons of that period in the East were destroyed in outbreaks of iconoclasm. This icon's style is said to be more that of the 9th century or later, but it has been battered and amended over the ages. Restoration that ended in 2022 gave it a more or less satisfactory form.
It has been much loved, not least by Pope Francis, who though bang up to date in matters of climate change and liturgy, embraced ancient devotions.
This led to the memorable scene in the rain on Friday March 27 2020 during the Covid pandemic. The Pope stood alone in St Peter's Square, with the icon Salus Populi Romani and a large crucifix from the church of St Marcellus (invoked in the early 16th century against plague).
Some complained later that rain had damaged the paint on the crucifix, which in the circumstances sounds like complaining that seawater damaged the paintwork of a lifeboat.
In the wet the Pope limped to the icon and said a silent prayer, then to the crucifix, the wounded feet of which he kissed. He blessed the city and the world, Urbi et Orbi, with a monstrance displaying the Blessed Sacrament.
His flabby Italo-Argentine face reflected his determination. He insisted on appearing outdoors when all Italy was locked down, not because he didn't believe in Covid, but because he did believe in God.
It was an anti-Lear effect: instead of raging like the tragic king with the storm, he stood, an envelope of calm in the tempest of the city and the world.
He spoke a short meditation on the passage in the Gospel (Mark 35-41) where Jesus is asleep in the boat in the storm. Of Covid he said: 'Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void.'
He quoted the appeal of the frightened Apostles in the boat with Jesus, 'Do you not care if we perish?', and his reply after calming the seas: 'Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?'
Pope Francis pointed out we were all in the same boat and had better row together. 'I would like this evening to entrust you all to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, Health of the People and Star of the stormy Sea.'
In a niche marked 'Franciscus' near the entrance to the chapel at St Mary Major where the icon is revered, he is to be buried today.