The Vatican on Tuesday published the first photo and video of Pope Francis lying in repose, showing the late pontiff in an open coffin dressed in red liturgical vestments, a mitre on his head and a rosary placed in his hands.
The images were taken inside the private chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence where he passed away on Monday at the age of 88.
The solemn visuals come just a day after the Holy See confirmed that Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke which led to a coma and irreversible heart failure. Dr Andrea Arcangeli, director of the directorate of health and hygiene of the Vatican City State, certified the cause of death in an official medical report, which also detailed the pontiff’s long-standing health issues, including Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and a history of respiratory failure and bilateral pneumonia.
His death was officially recorded at 7:35 am (local time) on April 21 through electrocardiographic thanatography, according to the Vatican.
Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, was the first pope from Latin America. His papacy began in March 2013 and spanned more than a decade marked by reform, humility, and a global focus on the poor. He made his final public appearance just a day before his passing — briefly greeting crowds from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday, although he was too frail to deliver the full traditional message.
As revealed in his will, Pope Francis had requested a modest burial at the Papal Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome, departing from the long tradition of entombing popes at St Peter’s Basilica. He had expressed a lifelong devotion to the Salus Populi Romani icon housed in the Pauline Chapel of St Mary Major and asked to be laid to rest nearby in a simple, unadorned tomb marked only “Franciscus.”
“I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine,” he wrote in the testament dated June 29, 2022. “The tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration,” he added, further stating there should be no reference to his papal office on the gravestone. “With lively hope in eternal life, I offer the suffering of the last part of my life for peace in the world and brotherhood among peoples,” he wrote.
This makes Francis the first pope in nearly 150 years not to be buried at St Peter’s, with the last being Pope Pius IX. The tomb will be placed near the Queen of Peace statue inside the basilica, fulfilling his personal wish.
His request also reflects his aversion to traditional papal funeral customs. In his autobiography Hope, Francis wrote, “The Vatican is the home of my final service, not my eternity.”
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