Pontiff buried at Basilica of St. Mary Major
Goodbye, Pope Francis’: Pontiff buried at Basilica of St. Mary Major
Pope Francis was buried Saturday in the Basilica of St. Mary Major after his coffin crossed the center of Rome, marking the pontiff’s final goodbye to the Eternal City.
After the celebration of the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square, the pope’s coffin left the Vatican via the Perugino Gate at 12:30 p.m. local time. The simple wooden coffin was transported in a popemobile-style pickup truck and greeted to applause and cheers of “Goodbye, Pope Francis,” and “Good journey, Francis” from a small crowd gathered just outside the Vatican.
The white car carrying the papal coffin winded slowly through Rome, the city of which Pope Francis was bishop, past the white Monument to Victory Emmanuel II, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum, to arrive at Via Merulana, a wide street leading to the main square of the Basilica of St. Mary Major.