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Vatican releases first images of the tomb of Pope Francis
The Independent
|April 28, 2025
The Vatican has released images of Pope Francis’s tomb at the Santa Maria Maggiore church in Rome, where he was laid to rest on Saturday.
Inscribed on the tomb is the papal name of the late pontiff, and a single white rose sitting under a crucifix, with light casting a warm glow over the tomb. Around 400,000 people attended the funeral, a grand yet solemn ceremony in the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square, with world leaders including Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer, Prince William and Volodymyr Zelensky among those watching on.
The casket of Francis, who died on 21 April at the age of 88, was then transported to the Santa Maria Maggiore church where he was buried in a private ceremony in St Mary Major Basilica, becoming the first pontiff to be buried outside the Vatican in more than 120 years.
This story is from the April 28, 2025 edition of The Independent.
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