SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
London: Pope Francis will be buried in a modest grave beneath the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome, turning away from centuries of Vatican tradition and reaffirming his lifelong embrace of humility, even in death.
As church bells tolled across Rome to mark the Pope’s death on Monday, cardinals from across the world began making their way to the Vatican to plan the 88-year-old’s funeral and prepare for the conclave that will elect his successor in the weeks ahead.
Crowds gather at St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City following the announcement of Pope Francis’ death.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
The College of Cardinals will hold its first meeting in the Vatican’s Synod Hall on Tuesday evening (AEST). The funeral is expected to take place between Friday and Sunday, according to Vatican officials. US President Donald Trump has said he will attend, while Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese said he hoped Governor-General Sam Mostyn, on her way to Turkey for Anzac Day commemorations, would represent Australia.
The conclave to choose the next pope must begin within 15 to 20 days of the Pope’s death and any cardinal under the age of 80 can take part in the election. There are about 130 who qualify.
Pope Francis died at 7.35am local time on Monday, after a cerebral stroke that caused a coma and irreversible heart failure. His death has ushered in sede vacante — a period of transition and mourning during which the papal seat lies vacant.
Many of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics world flocked to churches and cathedrals on Tuesday (AEST) to pay their respects to the Pope as news of his death spread. Lunchtime services in Sydney and Melbourne attracted hundreds of worshippers.
In a testament released just hours after his death, Francis requested that he be buried “in the ground, without particular decoration,” marked only with the Latin inscription “Franciscus”. He declined burial at St Peter’s Basilica, where many former popes lie entombed, instead choosing a Marian shrine close to his heart, outside the walls of the Vatican.
“I wish that my last earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary,” he wrote, referring to the Basilica of St Mary Major, a place of pilgrimage and prayer for him throughout his papacy. His final resting place will be a niche in the side nave between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel, near the icon of Salus Populi Romani – a revered image of the Virgin Mary that Francis often visited in times of personal and global crisis.
Francis first made his burial preference public in 2023 during an interview with a Mexican television program, saying he wanted to be laid to rest at St Mary Major “because of my great devotion”.
The tomb will be “simple, without particular ornamentation”, and will carry no papal crest or elaborate epitaph, in line with the Pope’s wishes. The Vatican said the costs of the burial will be covered by an anonymous benefactor. Arrangements were entrusted to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, an official of the basilica.
The pope’s coffin is lying at the Domus Santa Marta guesthouse – where he resided during his papacy after declining the lavish Apostolic Palace – and is expected to be moved to St Peter’s Basilica by Wednesday morning, where mourners will be able to pay their respects.
In Melbourne, Albanese attended St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Tuesday morning to remember the Pope, and paused his campaign events for the day.
He delivered an emotional address on Monday evening following news of the pontiff’s death, commending him for upholding the values of “peace, equality and inclusion”. He said the Pope was “one of the most consequential leaders of our lifetime” and had left an extraordinary legacy.
“The change that he led was significant indeed, and he, of course, advocated for reforms that weren’t universally supported as well,” he told reporters. “He had courage, and he showed true leadership, the first Jesuit to be the pope … He was someone who I, personally, admired as well.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton attended a packed afternoon Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney led by Archbishop Anthony Fisher. Beforehand, Dutton said it was a time not just to mourn the Pope but to celebrate his life as “one of sacrifice, mercy and forbearance”.
Fisher told those gathered at the Mass that Francis was a man who “[held] out the hand of God’s mercy to all humanity”.
“Pope Francis was so marked by Easter he made his last appearance and offered his last blessings on Easter Day itself,” Fisher said. “Who will forget Pope Francis’ tender gestures right up to his last days, reaching out to those who are poor, refugees or prisoners, to the elderly, disabled, unborn and newborn?”
In Melbourne, Archbishop Peter Comensoli reflected on the Pope’s trip to welcome refugees at Lampadusa, an Italian port in the Mediterranean that has become the epicentre for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe from North Africa.
“In a very real sense, each pope brings something of themselves to the ministry, and Pope Francis brought with him to that ministry, a ministry of gestures, more than words,” Comensoli said.
The Vatican released the Pope’s official death certificate on Monday, which confirmed the stroke and cardiac arrest, and also listed several chronic conditions from which he suffered, including arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and multiple bronchiectasis – a lung condition that had caused recurring respiratory infections.
Vatican health services head Professor Andrea Arcangeli noted that Francis had suffered repeated episodes of acute respiratory failure. One of the most serious occurred during his February hospitalisation for pneumonia in both lungs.
Francis signed his will on June 29, 2022 – the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, a public holiday in Rome.
Two nuns prepare the candelabra for the celebration of a rosary in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to honour the passing of Pope Francis.Credit: Getty Images
“Sensing that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching with lively hope in eternal life,” he wrote, adding that he had offered “the suffering that has been present in the last part of my life … to the Lord for peace in the world and brotherhood among peoples”.
He ended the document with a familiar closing line from many of his public addresses, asking God to “give the deserved reward to those who loved me and will continue to pray for me.”
Despite declining health, Francis made a surprise appearance on Easter Sunday – just one day before his death – to bless thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square. He had also held a final private audience with US Vice President J. D. Vance, making him the last foreign dignitary to meet the Pope in person.
with Daniel Lo Surdo and Lachlan Abbott
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