Pope Francis says in his will that he wants to be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, where six other popes are buried, in a simple, undecorated tomb with only the inscription “Franciscus,” according to the Vatican, which released the document on Monday.

“I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine,” Francis wrote in his will, which was dated June 29, 2022. He specified that he had visited the church at the beginning and the end of every apostolic trip he took during his 12-year papacy. On his first day as pope in 2013, he slipped out of the Vatican to pray there.

Francis also visited St. Mary Major every time he returned to the Vatican after a hospital stay, including on March 23, when he left Gemelli Hospital after a 38-day stay. On that occasion, he did not get out of the car.

In his will, Francis specified that “the tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration.” He asked that the tomb be placed in the aisle next to the Pauline Chapel, where an important Marian icon, the Salus Populi Romani, is located.

Francis said that in being buried there, he wanted to thank the Virgin “for her docile and maternal care.”

Tradition holds that the icon was made by Saint Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of painters. It is an image Francis was particularly devoted to, continuing a Jesuit tradition. According to the basilica’s website, since the Jesuit order was founded, Jesuits have “fostered devotion to the icon” by distributing copies of the icon throughout the world.”

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