The tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major was manufactured with materials from the Italian region of the Liguria. It is a simple grave only bearing the inscription “Franciscus” and a reproduction of the pectoral cross of the Pope.
By Edoardo Giribaldi
The tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major was manufactured with materials from the Italian region of the Liguria. It is a simple grave only bearing the inscription “Franciscus” and a reproduction of the pectoral cross of the Pope.
The tomb is located near the altar of St Francis, in the niche of the lateral nave between the Pauline chapel (Chapelle Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza chapel. Speaking on television, the co-supervisor of the basilica, Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, announced the desire of Pope Francis to be buried in a tomb made from the “Liguria stone, the land of his grandparents”.
From Italy to Argentina
It is precisely in the small town of Cogorno that a slate plate – a gray, green or bluish metamorphic rock with fine grain – commemorates the great -grandfather of Bergoglio, Vincenzo Sivori. He traveled from Italy to Argentina in the 1800s. There he raised his family, including his granddaughter Regina Maria Sivori: Pope Francis.
“A great gift. One last surprise.”
Pope Francis often kept his connection with the private Liguria, so that the mayor of the city, Enrica Sommariva, described his surprise when she heard that the Pope had asked the stone from the region of his grandparents for his grave.
Angela Sivori, who still lives in Cogorno, told the moment when she discovered that she was the cousin of Pope Francis. She described having received a telephone call from Buenos Aires and a genealogy tree by email. She and her daughter, Cristina, said that the pope’s request concerning the tomb was a wonderful gift for the family, “a last surprise,” said Cristina.
Meet families
In May 2017, Pope Francis met his family in Genova.
Cristina recalled that at the time her mother was 87 years old and that they did not know that they would meet Pope Francis until the very last minute. “Then, three days earlier, we received a call from the Vatican. Seven of us gathered and he welcomed us like a cousin that had come from the “end of the world”.
The People of the People
There is therefore a deep link between the slate and the late pope.
Franca Garbain, president of the district of Slate, which includes 18 quarries and 12 societies in the Ligurian hills, described it as “not a noble stone” but rather as “the stone of the people”, and which “gives heat”. The district has already agreed to create slabs that will accompany Pope Francis in his eternal rest.
Even before the pope, the city of Cogorno had links with the innocent popes IV and Adrian V. The city, bearing this pleasant surprise, echoes the way Pope Francis lived, until the very end of his land trip.
