Pope Francis speaks at his general audience Dec. 13, 2023, in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2023 / 10:10 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has said that he wants to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome because of his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In a new interview broadcast on the Mexican television program “N+” on Tuesday night, the pope revealed that he has already made plans for his funeral and burial.
Pope Francis, who turns 87 on Sunday, said that he has been working with the Vatican’s master of ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, to simplify the Church’s papal funeral rites.
“We simplified them quite a bit,” Francis told Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki.
He said that a “place is already prepared” for his burial in one of the oldest and most important Marian shrines in the West.
“I want to be buried in St. Mary Major,” Francis said. “Because of my great devotion.”
Pope Francis would be the first pope to be buried outside of the Vatican’s grotto crypt in St. Peter’s Basilica in more than a century. (Pope Leo XIII was buried in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in 1903.)
Pope Francis has made more than 100 visits to the Basilica of St. Mary Major since becoming pope. He visits the basilica to venerate the icon known as the “Salus Populi Romani” — “Mary, Protection of the Roman People” — before and after every international trip. Recently, Pope Francis placed a Golden Rose before the icon on Dec. 8.
In the interview, Francis recalled how he would also regularly visit the Marian basilica before he was pope on Sundays when he was in Rome, underlining his strong connection with the basilica.
The interview, taped on Dec. 12 before Pope Francis presided over a Mass to mark the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was the pope’s first interview since slowing down his schedule due to a bout of acute bronchitis.
“I feel good, I feel improved. Sometimes I’m told I’m imprudent because I feel like doing things and moving around. But I guess those are good signs, no? I am quite well,” Francis said.
Pope Francis said that he now faces some “limits” in his ability to travel and that his international trips have to be “rethought.” The pope confirmed that he plans to visit Belgium in 2024 to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the country’s two main Catholic universities. He added that trips to somewhere in Polynesia and his native Argentina are also “pending.”
In the interview, Pope Francis said that he has never thought of resigning like his predecessor Benedict XVI but is open to the possibility.
“I ask the Lord to say enough, at some point, but when he wants me to,” he said.
When asked if he has become “more tough” since Benedict XVI’s death, the pope replied: “No” but added that sometimes fathers have to reprimand their children, “but never in the face.”
“Sometimes a reprimand is necessary … I am complicated and sometimes a little impatient, but they put up with me,” the pope added.
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Members of St. Francis’ Work for the Poor, wearing t-shirts with the phrase “a helping hand to man every day,” with the Holy Father in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Sep 1, 2025 / 09:47 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Monday welcomed members of the Opera San Francesco per i Poveri (“St. Francis’ Work for the Poor”) to the Vatican, thanking the society for their witness of charity according to the Franciscan tradition.
“When you see a poor person,” the Holy Father said, recalling the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “you are placed before the mirror of the Lord and his poor Mother.”
“Likewise, in the sick, know how to see the infirmities with which Jesus took on himself,” he added.
Each year, the Opera San Francesco per i Poveri provides a wide variety of services to more than 30,000 people. Their charitable works include managing cafeterias and health clinics, as well as providing job counseling and psychological support for those in need.
Thanking the society for nearly 70 years of service, Pope Leo highlighted the spirit of fraternity and faithfulness that continues to guide its members since its foundation.
“Your institution has been committed to ‘ensuring assistance and hospitality to people in need and […] promoting the comprehensive human development of the person in accordance with Christian tradition, especially Franciscan tradition, the doctrine of the Church and its Magisterium,” Leo said, quoting the society’s statutes.
Several men and women, wearing white shirts with the society’s logo and the phrase “a helping hand to man every day,” had the opportunity to individually greet the Holy Father in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall following his short address.
Describing the Milan-based society’s founder Venerable Fra Cecilio Maria Cortinovis as a “humble doorman” with a generous heart, Pope Leo said the Lord answered his prayers by placing other generous people alongside him in order to better serve the poor.
“Thus began the beautiful adventure of which all of you are witnesses and protagonists today,” he said.
To celebrate the “story of charity” born from the faith of Cortinovis, Pope Leo told the Franciscan society to be faithful to the three “fundamental aspects of charity” outlined in their statues: to assist, to welcome, and to promote.
“Assisting means being present for the needs of others,” he said. “And in this regard, the quantity and variety of services you’ve managed to organize and offer to those who turn to you over the years is impressive.”
“This is accompanied by welcoming, that is, making room for others in our hearts and lives, offering time, listening, support, and prayer,” he added.
Emphasizing the teaching of Pope John Paul II on the dignity and creativity of each person, Pope Leo advised his listeners to help others to discover God and their own vocation in life.
“And so we come to the third point: promoting,” he said. “Here, the selflessness of giving and respect for the dignity of people come into play, so that we care for those we encounter simply for their good, so that they can grow to their full potential and proceed on their own path, without expecting anything in return and without imposing conditions.”
The Holy Father imparted his blessing at the end of the private Monday audience and assured them of his prayerful accompaniment.
“Thank you for what you do and for the witness you give by your journey together!”
An FBI agent stands outside the Houck residence in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 23, 2022. Mark Houck was arrested that day and charged with assaulting a Planned Parenthood escort outside an Philadelphia abortion clinic on Oct. 13, 2021…. […]
Pope Francis prays during Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2023. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Dec 24, 2023 / 18:00 pm (CNA).
Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, delivered on Dec. 24, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“A census of the whole earth” (cf. Lk 2:1). This was the context in which Jesus was born, and the Gospel makes a point of it. The census might have been mentioned in passing, but instead is carefully noted. And in this way, a great contrast emerges. While the emperor numbers the world’s inhabitants, God enters it almost surreptitiously. While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness. None of the powerful take notice of him: only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.
The census speaks of something else. In the Scriptures, the taking of a census has negative associations. King David, tempted by large numbers and an unhealthy sense of self-sufficiency, sinned gravely by ordering a census of the people. He wanted to know how powerful he was. After some nine months, he knew how many men could wield a sword (cf. 2 Sam 24:1-9). The Lord was angered and the people suffered. On this night, however, Jesus, the “Son of David”, after nine months in Mary’s womb, is born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He does not impose punishment for the census, but humbly allows himself to be registered as one among many. Here we see, not a god of wrath and chastisement, but the God of mercy, who takes flesh and enters the world in weakness, heralded by the announcement: “on earth peace among those whom he favors” (Lk 2:14). Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world (cf. Lk 2:7).
The census of the whole earth, in a word, manifests the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures, a world obsessed with achievement. Yet the census also manifests the way of Jesus, who comes to seek us through enfleshment. He is not the god of accomplishment, but the God of Incarnation. He does not eliminate injustice from above by a show of power, but from below, by a show of love. He does not burst on the scene with limitless power, but descends to the narrow confines of our lives. He does not shun our frailties, but makes them his own.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Brothers and sisters, tonight we might ask ourselves: Which God do we believe in? In the God of incarnation or the god of achievement? Because there is always a risk that we can celebrate Christmas while thinking of God in pagan terms, as a powerful potentate in the sky; a god linked to power, worldly success, and the idolatry of consumerism. With the false image of a distant and petulant deity who treats the good well and the bad poorly; a deity made in our own image and likeness, handy for resolving our problems and removing our ills. God, on the other hand, waves no magic wand; he is no god of commerce who promises “everything all at once”. He does not save us by pushing a button, but draws near us, in order to change our world from within. Yet how deeply ingrained is the worldly notion of a distant, domineering, unbending, and powerful deity who helps his own to prevail against others! So many times this image is ingrained in us. But that is not the case: our God was born for all, during a census of the whole earth.
Let us look, then, to the “living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9). The God who is beyond all human reckoning and yet allows himself to be numbered by our accounting. The God, who revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history. The God who so respects us as to allow us to reject him; who takes away sin by taking it upon himself; who does not eliminate pain but transforms it; who does not remove problems from our lives but grants us a hope that is greater than all our problems. God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice. Brothers and sisters, this is the wonder of Christmas: not a mixture of sappy emotions and worldly contentment, but the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate. Let us contemplate the Child, let us contemplate the manger, his crib, which the angels call “a sign” for us (cf. Lk 2:12). For it truly is the sign that reveals God’s face, a face of compassion and mercy, whose might is shown always and only in love. He makes himself close, tender, and compassionate. This is God’s way: closeness, compassion, tenderness.
Pope Francis brings a figure of the Christ child over to the nativity scene inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Mass. Vatican Media
Sisters and brothers, let us marvel at the fact that he “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Flesh: the very word evokes our human frailty. The Gospel uses this word to show us that God completely assumed our human condition. Why did he go to such lengths? Because he cares for us, because he loves us to the point that he considers us more precious than all else. Dear brother, dear sister, to God, who changed history in the course of a census, you are not a number, but a face. Your name is written on his heart. But if you look to your own heart, and think of your own inadequacies and this world that is so judgmental and unforgiving, you may feel it difficult to celebrate this Christmas. You may think things are going badly, or feel dissatisfied with your limitations, your failings, your problems, and your sins. Today, though, please, let Jesus take the initiative. He says to you, “For your sake, I became flesh; for your sake, I became just like you”. So why remain caught up in your troubles? Like the shepherds, who left their flocks, leave behind the prison of your sorrows and embrace the tender love of the God who became a child. Put aside your masks and your armor; cast your cares on him and he will care for you (cf. Ps 55:22). He became flesh; he is looking not for your achievements but for your open and trusting heart. In him, you will rediscover who you truly are: a beloved son or daughter of God. Now you can believe it, for tonight the Lord was born to light up your life; his eyes are alight with love for you. We have difficulty believing in this, that God’s eyes shine with love for us.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Christ does not look at numbers, but at faces. However, who looks at him amid the many distractions and mad rush of a bustling and indifferent world? Who is watching? In Bethlehem, as crowds of people were caught up in the excitement of the census, coming and going, filling the inns, and engaged in petty conversation, a few were close to Jesus: Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and then the Magi.
Let us learn from them. They stood gazing upon Jesus, with their hearts set on him. They did not speak, they worshiped. Tonight, brothers and sisters, is a time of adoration, of worship.
Worship is the way to embrace the Incarnation. For it is in silence that Jesus, the Word of the Father, becomes flesh in our lives. Let us do as they did, in Bethlehem, a town whose name means “House of Bread”. Let us stand before him who is the Bread of Life. Let us rediscover worship, for to worship is not to waste time, but to make our time a dwelling place for God. It is to let the seed of the Incarnation bloom within us; it is to cooperate in the work of the Lord, who, like leaven, changes the world. To worship is to intercede, to make reparation, to allow God to realign history. As a great teller of epic tales once wrote to his son, “I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth” (J.R.R. TOLKIEN, Letter 43, March 1941).
Brothers and sisters, tonight love changes history. Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Lord, make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.
Pope Francis is doing fine. Wishing the Holy Father strength and stamina. God bless.