“I want to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore because of my great faith – I need you to pray for my health,” the pontiff said in a rare televised interview
In an interview with Mexican television N+, Pope Francis revealed that he will not be buried inside the Vatican, but that he has asked to be buried in the royal church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which is located near Rome’s central Termini train station.
The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (i.e. Saint Mary the Great) is one of the four papal basilicas and the largest in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
It is in this church the Byzantine icon of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani“for the Salvation of the Roman People,” before which the pope kneels and prays when he returns from each of his journeys.
“I want to be buried in this church, because of my great faith,” Francis said. “I need you to pray for my healthold age never comes alone, it is not groomed, it comes as it is, it is itself,” the pontiff added.
With reference to eventual resignation and in the resignation letter he has signed and delivered to former Vatican prime minister Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone – should it ever need to be used – Francis added:At the moment I haven’t thought about it. I saw the courage of Benedict, when he realized that he could not cope, he preferred to say “enough” and this for me works positively, as an example. I ask the Lord to say “no”, at some point, but when He wishes it.
In relation, moreover, to new Argentine president Javier Millay, his compatriot and Catholic holy father said: “We must distinguish between what a politician says during the pre-election period and what he will actually do afterwards. Because then comes the moment of decisions and concrete action”.
Francis confirmed, finally, that after the death of Pope Benedict, his internal enemies became more cruel while revealing that “his relationship with Benedict was particularly close and he often asked for his opinion and advice”.
Who are buried in Santa Maria Maggiore
Saint Jerome 420 (relics)
Pope Honorius III 1227 (no longer exists)
Pope Nicholas IV 1292
Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora 1564, Cardinal
Pope Pius V 1572
Pope Sixtus V 1590
Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini 1605
Pope Clement IX 1669
Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1680
Paulina Bonaparte-Borghese 1825
Junio ​​Valerio Borghese 1974
Domenico Kalogiera T.D., archbishop
Hugo Poletti 1997, cardinal, papal representative (vicarius) for the diocese of Rome
Source :Skai
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