The transfer of the coffin from St. Peter’s Basilica to the Roman church began at 12:08 p.m. local time, shortly after the funeral Mass, presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, with the participation of more than 250,000 people, including 180 delegations from around the world, who bid farewell to the Holy Father.
The funeral procession departed Vatican City through Porta del Perugino, passed by the Galleria Principe Amadeo di Savoia-Aosta, and continued along Vittorio Emanuele Avenue to Piazza Venezia.
It turned onto Via dei Fori Imperiali, crossed a side of the Colosseum, and continued along Via Labicana and Via Merulana. Along the way, hundreds of people, more than 150,000, greeted the procession amid tight security measures until it arrived at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
In his will, dated June 29, 2022, the Supreme Pontiff requested that his remains be buried in that church, the largest in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary, because “I have always entrusted my life and my priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord.”
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