Why Pope Francis chose a humble burial site

Pope Francis will not be buried where most popes have chosen as their final resting place in the Vatican. 

Reuters reports that Pope Francis chose the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) because he always prayed there before setting off on trips, as well as when he returned. He also prayed there the day after he was elected as pope, the first Latin American attaining that position. 

"I've always had a great devotion to St. Mary Major, even before I became pope," he said in the book "El Sucesor" (The Successor), which is a long interview with journalist Javier Martinez-Brocal published in 2024.

But there may be another reason that Francis has chosen St. Mary Major, besides his devotion to Mary, Mother of God. 

The church’s gold-leaf ceiling is said to have been made from a batch of gold brought back from the New World by Christopher Columbus. 

It could be that Francis wanted to be buried close to an element that originated from his homeland in Latin America, sending a final message that he never forgot where he came from. 

Even though In his final testament, he asked to be buried "in the earth, simple, without particular decoration," he may have wanted to send a small message to the world about his origin in Argentina and Latin America. His burial will have the inscription only of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.