VATICAN CITY (AP) — Roman Catholic faithful began visiting the tomb of Pope Francis on Sunday, filing past the simple white tomb in St. Mary Major Basilica a day after he was bade farewell by the powerful of the world and a crowd of hundreds of thousands.

Video shows Pope Francis’ tomb inside Rome’s St. Mary Major’s Basilica where he was laid to rest Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Francis, who took his name after Saint Francis of Assisi, was known for his outreach to the poor and those in poverty and that will be reflected in his minimalist burial at Saint Mary Major. He is the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in over a century and the first to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore in more than 300 years.

Papal funerals have historically been very elaborate, but the instructions set out by Francis are much simpler. He will be the first Pope in more than a century not to be buried inside the Vatican. Instead,