Pope Francis died on Monday at 7.35 in the morning. This information was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell in a message provided by the Vatican Press Office. The pope was 88 years old. He died during recovery after severe pneumonia, the day after he came to the blessing of Urbi et Orbi to greet the faithful. The Pope's funeral takes place on Saturday.
Pope Francis is dead. “The place is ready”
Franciszek also indicated in specifically where he would like to be buried after his death. “As always, I promised Mary, the place is ready, I want to be buried in the Basilica of the Mother of Snow,” he said during one of the interviews in 2023.
Basilica of Our Lady of Snow
– I am very devoted to this place. I came there every Sunday in the morning. As soon as I was in Rome, I came there for a moment. I feel very related to this place – he added.
The Pope also referred to his burial place in his autobiography “Hope”. As he explained in it, “the Vatican is a place of my service, not eternal rest.” – I chose a room where candelabry is currently stored, next to the marble figure of Regina Pacis, which I always asked for help and which I took care of my pontificate all the time – said Franciszek.
The will of Pope Francis was met, so this is the first case in 120 years when the head of the church resting outside the Vatican. Until now, the bodies of the popes were placed in the Vatican caves under the Basilica of St. Piotr in the Vatican. Francis, however, is not the first pope to rest in this basilica. There are already the remains of seven other popes.
The construction of the basilica was initiated by sleep and snow in the middle of summer
The Basilica of Our Lady of Snowy is located on the Eskwilin hill in Rome. Its other name is the Basilica of the Mother of God and was dedicated to Saint. Maria of Nazareth. Together with the basilicas of St. Peter in the Vatican, Saint. John in Lateran and Saint. Paweł behind the walls belongs to the so -called Basilic of papal Rome and the Vatican.
The interior of the Basil of Our Lady of Snow
Its beginning dates back to 352. It was then that Pope Liberius and Roman Jan were to see the Mother of God in a dream, which she told them that in the place where the snow would fall in the middle of summer, a church would be built. On the night of August 4-5, the Eskwilin Hill was covered with snow, which convinced Pope Liberius to designate the outline of the future building here. However, construction began only in 432.
