Pope Francis Writes Will Regarding His Funeral In 2022, Here's The Contents

Pope Francis. (Wikimedia Commons/Benhur Arcayan)

JAKARTA - The late leader of the World Catholic Church Pope Francis asked to be buried in the Steructural Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major), with a simple tomb.

It was revealed from Pope Francis' spiritual will published on Monday, as reported by Vatican News April 22.

The Pope wrote the will at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, Vatican on June 29, 2022, as written in the closing section of the letter.

The will was opened with Pope Francis' desire for his final resting place, "when I felt dusk ahead of my mortal life," Pope Francis wrote.

"Throughout my life, and during my service as an imam and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to our Mother of God, the Virgin Mary who belongs to me. For this reason, I ask that my body rest - waiting for the Day of Awakening - at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore's Passage, "wrote the Pope.

According to CNN and Reuters, most of the whales were buried in underground caves in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican. Before Pope Francis, there were seven other Popes buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore's Papal.

The previous Pope buried outside St. Peter's Basilica was Pope Leo XIII who died on July 20, 1903 and was buried in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome, Italy.

The Pope also said the election could not be separated from the prayers he always offered at Santa Maria Maggiore's Papal Basilica before and after traveling apostolytically.

In his will, Pope Francis also requested that his tomb be prepared in a cemetery niche in the side alley between Kapel Pauline (Salus Kapel Populi Romani) and Kapel Sforza in Basilika.

"The grave must be on the ground; simple, without special ornaments, it only reads: Franciscus," he wrote.

"The cost of funeral preparation will be borne by a sum of money provided by a philanthropist, which I have arranged to transfer to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore's Passage. I have given the necessary instructions regarding this matter to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, the Extraordinary Commissioner of Liberian Basilica," continued the Pope.

"May God reward all those who have loved me and those who continue to pray for me. The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I dedicate to God, for peace in the world and for brotherhood among people," the Pope concluded.

As previously reported, the Vatican announced Pope Francis had died on Monday morning local time.

"Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis," Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican TV channel.

"At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to Father's house," the announcement continued.

Pope Francis has died of an irreducible stroke and heart failure, Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli said in a death certificate released on Monday.

Pope Francis is known to have a history of acute respiratory failure caused by multimicrobial bilateral pneumonia, multipel bronkiectics, high blood pressure, and type II diabetes, the report said.