Inside the church where Pope Francis will be buried 'after divine message'

decided to be buried outside the Vatican at a venue that played a special part in his life, according to a senior priest. The pontiff died on April 21, Easter Monday, aged 88 after weeks of ill health.

The had been admitted to hospital in February and, after being diagnosed with dual pneumonia, spent five weeks there undergoing treatment, during which he suffered "two very critical episodes". On Monday, the Vatican. News of his passing prompted a wave of tributes from world leaders and mourners around the world. He was hailed as a progressive figure in the church, notably championing acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

The Pope will be remembered for his willingness to dispense with tradition and follow his own path, and the site he selected for his final resting place is no exception.

For more than 100 years, leaders of the Catholic Church have been buried in the Vatican.

But Pope Francis decided he wanted to be interred at the 4th-century Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, also known as the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, which is the largest dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Rome. It's one of four major basilicas in the Italian capital.

Though it is techically part of the Vatican state, it is located outside Vatican City, the microstate where the headquarters of the Catholic Church are.

The spiritual leader was a frequent visitor to the holy site, often seen praying there before and after trips overseas, as per .

The building is filled with exceptional paintings, mosiacs, marble columns, frescos, and multiple chapels, contained within a grand neoclassical fascade.

Francis is known to have had a special fondness for the church due to his devotion to the Virgin Mary. In his 2024 book El Sucesor (The Successor), which was based on an interview with journalist Javier Martinez-Brocal, Pope Francis revealed: "I've always had a great devotion to St Mary Major, even before I became pope."

The basilica's senior priest, Rolandas Makrickas, explained to Italian media how the pontiff came to the decision to be buried there.

Speaking to Rome-based newspaper Il Messaggero, Mr Makrickas said he asked the pope during one of his visits in May 2022 "if he wasn't by any chance thinking about being buried [there] given how often he came".

With a smile, Francis told him that pontiffs are buried in St Peter's and Makrickas said he thought "that was that".

But a week later he said he was called by the pope, who told him, "'the Virgin Mary has told me to prepare my tomb'".

"Then he simply told me, 'find a place for it, because I want to be buried in this basilica and you've been a bit of a prophet'," the priest added.

Francis will be buried next to an icon of Mary he cherished, following his funeral on Saturday morning. Seven other popes are buried there, the last of whom was Pope Clement IX, all the way back in the 17th century.

Papal funerals are traditionally elaborate events, but Francis reportedly .

Unlike the previous triple-layered coffins made of cypress, lead, and oak seen in previous papal burials, Francis asked to be laid to rest in a simple wooden casket, with an inscription only of his papal name: Franciscus.