From the first moments of his papacy to the final days of his life, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, known to the world as Pope Francis — found his true home through a deep devotion to the Virgin Mary at the Santa Maria Maggiore or Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
On March 14, 2013, just one day after his election as pope, Francis broke with tradition. Rather than making grand pronouncements or celebrating at the center of Catholic power in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope chose to visit his favorite church in Rome, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a fifth-century basilica and a church said to have been built following a miraculous dream.
Throughout his twelve-year pontificate, Francis visited the basilica 126 times, carrying with him his joys, fears, hopes, and gratitude.
Before the ancient icon of Salus Populi Romani in Latin for "Protectress of the Roman People", a revered painting of Mary holding the child Jesus, he would pray before and after his international trips and lay flowers in devotion.
Even in moments of sickness, his heart drew him back to Mary. Many said that the basilica became a refuge, a sacred home where he could lay down the immense burdens of leadership at the feet of the Mother of God.
After being discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in March 2025, recovering from double pneumonia, he went straight to Saint Mary Major, seeking strength, protection, and healing under Mary's loving gaze.
Just days before his death on Easter Monday, April 21, he returned once more to the basilica on April 12, 2025, marking his final pilgrimage to the place he loved most deeply.
Up until his death, Pope Francis continued to break with and challenge tradition.
While most popes are laid to rest among the tombs of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis, in his brief final testament, expressed his wish to be buried at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
"I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care" he wrote in the document on June 29, 2022, and published by the Vatican April 21, hours after the pope had died.
He also declined the customary three nested coffins of cypress wood, elm, and lead, requesting instead, a simple wooden casket lined with zinc, bearing only his papal name inscribed in Latin: Franciscus.
"Throughout my life, and during my ministry as a priest and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary," he said.
In the sacred halls of Saint Mary Major, visitors will find not only a historic church, but also the memory of a man who whispered his hopes, chose tenderness over tradition, and found his true home in the embrace of the Mother of God. As he once said of the basilica, "This is my place."
For Pope Francis, Santa Maria Maggiore was not merely a church; it was home.
