The Pope Francis final wishes

In his final testament, Pope Francis expressed his wish to be buried in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.

“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,” he said.

The pontiff, who has come to be known for favouring simplicity over pomp, also asked for a tomb “without ornamentation” and with only the inscription “Franciscus”.

On the cost of the burial, the late Pope said it would be covered by a benefactor which he had arranged to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

‘Death is not the end but the start of something’

Meanwhile, multiple Italian outlets have shared an unpublished work Pope Francis wrote shortly before his death.

In the preface of a soon-to-be published book by Cardinal Angelo Scola, the pontiff wrote: “Death is not the end but the start of something.

“It’s a new beginning, as the title [of the book, Waiting for a new beginning. Reflections on old age] wisely suggests because eternal life, which is something those who love life experience on Earth in their everyday occupations, is to start something that will never end.

“And it is precisely for this reason that it is a ‘new’ beginning, because we will experience something that we have never fully experienced: eternity,” he added.