Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican has announced.
The Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals.
Following the liturgy, the late Pontiff’s coffin will be taken to St. Peter’s Basilica briefly, before being transferred to the Basilica of St. Mary Major — a site of deep personal devotion for Francis and where he chose to be laid to rest.
In his final testament, Pope Francis requested a burial “in the earth, simple, without particular decoration,” asking only that his Latin papal name Franciscus be inscribed on his tomb.
Breaking with recent tradition, he will not be interred in the Vatican grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
Instead, Francis will be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of Rome’s four major basilicas and the only one to retain much of its original 5th-century Christian structure.
Founded in 432 AD following the Council of Ephesus — which affirmed Mary as the Mother of God — the basilica has long been associated with Marian devotion, a cornerstone of Francis’ papacy.
Francis visited the basilica over 100 times, often before and after papal trips abroad, entrusting his missions to the Blessed Virgin.
He will become the seventh pope buried at the site, joining Popes Honorius III, Nicholas IV, St. Pius V, Sixtus V, Clement VIII, and Clement IX.
The basilica also houses the tomb of Cardinal Bernard Law and the famed artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
