Pope Francis’s last trip: 11 symbols of funeral courtship

The six -kilometer route that moved the body of Pope Francis from the Basilica of San Pedro to Santa María la Mayor was full of symbolism and emotion. These were the most prominent moments:

He left the “door of his house”

The thirsty who raised their coffin after the funeral did not go out through the Plaza de San Pedro, but through the Puerta del Perugino, a few steps from the Santa Marta house, their residence in the Vatican during the 12 years of their pontificate, which used to ‘escape’ to make surprise visits through the city of Rome.

The Mexican Papamobo as a funeral vehicle

In a gesture loaded with meaning, the coffin was transported in a white papamóvil that Mexico had given the Vatican in 2017, an adapted Dodge Ram that the Pope used during his historic visit to this country in 2016. The apostolic trip of Pope Francis to Mexico lasted six days, from Friday, February 12 until Wednesday, February 17, 2016, in which he visited five Mexican cities:

• Mexico City

• State of Mexico (Ecatepec)

• Chiapas (Tuxtla Gutiérrez and San Cristóbal de las Casas)

• Michoacán (Morelia)

• Chihuahua (Ciudad Juárez)

It was a real marathon that made Mexico in the country with more cities visited by the Pontiff since the beginning of his pontificate until that moment. The country in which Francisco spent longer during an apostolic trip was Brazil, with 8 days during the WYD of 2013.

From the Vatican to Rome crossing the Tiber river

The courtship crossed the Tiber River through the Prince Amadeo Bridge of Savoy, symbolically marking the Vatican’s passage to the city of Rome, a moment that represented the intimate connection of Pope Francis with his role as Bishop of Rome.

The last trip of the Bishop of Rome

Among applause from the attendees, the procession advanced by the Corsican Vittorio Emmanuele, one of the main arteries of Rome, where thousands of faithful gathered to give their last goodbye to the Argentine pontiff. It also reached the emblematic Plaza Venezia, a nerve center of Rome, to then turn to the imperial forums, connecting Francisco’s pontificate with the millenary history of the eternal city.

His passage through the Church of the Jesuits

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit Pontiff of History, maintained a special relationship with the Church of the Gesù in Rome, the main headquarters of the Society of Jesus. On July 31, 2013, at the festival of San Ignacio de Loyola, he presided over a concelebration in this temple, and on each apostolic trip outside Italy, he sought to meet with the local Jesuits.

The Roman Colosseum and its last via Crucis

One of the most exciting moments was when the coffin spent next to the Roman Colosseum, where Francisco presided every Good Friday the traditional via Crucis, praying for peace and remembering the Christian martyrs. Due to his health problems, Pope Francis could not preside over this prayer in the historic place since 2023.

During the live broadcast of this event in Ewtn in English, Father Roger Landry commented that the iconic image was a reminder of how the Catholic Church “Outlasted” (lasted longer in time, survived “the Roman Empire.

The Merullana Via and the Corpus Christi

When traveling through the Merullana Via, the courtship left the basilica of San Juan de Lartán, cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, remembering Francisco’s special link with his role as Bishop of Rome.

The Merullana Via is the traditional route for Corpus Christi processions in Rome. This tradition dates back to Pope Gregory XIII, who created this route for religious processions between the two basilicas during the jubilee of 1575.

Pope Francis participated in the celebration of Corpus Christi on June 2, 2024, offering a solemn blessing with the Blessed Sacrament from the steps of the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor, after a Eucharistic procession that traveled precisely the Merullana via from San Juan de Letán.

It is interesting to note that the last time Pope Francis had personally led the Corpus Christi procession throughout this traditional Roman route was seven years earlier, in 2017. In 2024, although he did not walk in the Eucharistic procession, he joined at the end for the worship of the Blessed Sacrament and offer the Eucharistic Blessing to the crowd.

Pedro returned to his mother: Santa María la Mayor

The culminating moment was the arrival in the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor, where Francisco chose to be buried for his deep devotion to the Byzantine icon of Salus Populi Romani. This place had a special meaning for him, because he went there before and after each apostolic trip to entrust his mission to the Virgin Mary.

The funeral courtship, which lasted just over 30 minutes with the Papamóvil by moving at about 10 kilometers per hour, allowed the 150,000 faithful gathered along the route to say goodbye to the first Latin American Pope, whose pontificate was marked by the proximity to the town and mercy.

A copy of the image of Salus Populi Romani was in the Plaza de San Pedro during his masquias mass.

Few know that the Spanish San Ignacio de Loyola chose Santa María la Mayor to celebrate his first Mass as a priest in 1538. Later, Loyola founded the Society of Jesus, for which this basilica was also very important. During the Protestant reform the Marian picture became an identity symbol that made clear the adhesion to the Pope.

Another interesting fact is that Cardinal Francisco de Toledo, the first Jesuit to be elevated to this dignity, left in his will all his inheritance to the Basilica.

Francisco rests with San Jerónimo and Bernini

In addition to Pope Francis, seven other pontiffs, several saints and famous characters are also buried in this Church. Some of them have a special link with the late Pope.

San Jerónimo: Pope Francis instituted the Sunday of the Word of God (Third Sunday of Ordinary Time) on September 30, 2019, a liturgical memory of San Jerónimo, through the Apostolic Charter “Scripturae Sacrae Affectus”, thus honoring the Holy Translator of the Bible into Latin. San Jerónimo lived in Rome in the fourth century-V in what is now the church of San Jerónimo de la Caridad, where he translated the Bible and whose grave is located in the crypt of the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Pope Francis now rests near Bernini, the genius of the Italian Baroque, architect and sculptor. We owe him the famous colonnade of the Plaza de San Pedro.

His grave is a few steps from Argentina in Rome

The Basilica of Santa María la Mayor is located a few steps from the most Argentine place in the country: the headquarters of the Argentine embassy against Italy. Francisco never returned to his homeland after being elected Pontiff and for years rumors circulated about his desire to be buried in Buenos Aires. The physical closeness between the temple and the Argentine embassy in Rome, active since 1889, reinforces the Pope’s personal link with this basilica.

Blancas Rosas de Santa Teresita de Jesus in the tomb of Pope Francis

Pope Francis had a special devotion to the French Carmelite mystique, Santa Teresita de Lisieux, whose symbol is the white rose. That is why these flowers were deposited with the Byzantine icon of the Salus Populi Romani of the Virgin Mary with the Child – a Theotokos – that reached the Italian capital in the year 590, before the mortal remains of Pope Francis received a burial.

In the first images that the Vatican of the simple tombstone spread with the inscription “Franciscus” there was also a white rose.

Pope Francis made his Linking With these flowers before the journalists in January 2015, after his trip to the Philippines: “When I don’t know how things will go, I have the habit of asking Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús, to carry the problem in his hands, and send me a rose.”