The modest tomb draws a large line on the opening day of the public, the day after tens of thousands of people attended his funeral.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Rome to honor Pope Francis’ tomb the tomb of Pope Francis the day after his funeral attracted world leaders and hundreds of thousands of faithful people.
On Sunday, a cue was seen at the grave. The grave was open to the public for nine days of official mourning, with a conclave expected to select a successor between May 5th and May 10th.
Outside the St. Mary’s Major Basilica, Usher urged visitors to continue moving to give a steady stream of people a chance to say goodbye.
The Argentine Pope, who died on April 21 at the age of 88, was placed to rest in a modest white marble tomb near the Madonna icon, which he deeply respected.
“For me, Pope Francis was an inspiration and a guide,” said Elias Caravalhal, a Roman resident who had missed the nation lying in St. Peter’s Basilica but came to appreciate the tomb.
Polish pilgrim Maria Brezinska recalls the simplicity of the site and says, “It’s exactly the path of the Pope. He is simple, and so is where he is.”
![Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell (L), Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, presided over the burial of the late Pope Francis in the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy. [File: Vatican media handout/EPA-EFE]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/12996864-1745756876.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
Breaking a century ago tradition, Francis chose to be buried outside the Vatican, choosing the multicultural center of Rome as his final resting place.
Earlier on Sunday, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State and a potential candidate to become the next Pope, led a special Mass at St. Peters Square.
Speaking before the crowd was estimated at 200,000, many of them were the young pilgrims who first gathered for the planned canoeing of Carlo Acotis, and Parolyn paid tribute to Francis.
“Pope Francis, the shepherd the Lord gave to his people, ended his earthly life and left us,” he said. “The sadness he had when he left, the sense of sadness that stricken us… we are experiencing all of this.”
Among those mourning was Susumida Murphy, from Kerala, India. “I can’t believe he’s not with us,” she said. “It’s sad. We don’t get people like this very often.”
Once in Rome, the Cards meet throughout the week to diagram the future courses of the 1.4 billion Roman Catholic Church.
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