The Holy See has confirmed that the cause of death Pope Francis had a stroke, which led to a coma and an irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.
The Pontiff had been suffering for some time from a complex clinical condition, as is clear from the communiqué published on the afternoon of April 21: he had suffered a previous episode of acute respiratory failure in bilateral multimicrobial pneumonia, multiple bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension and type II diabetes.
Professor Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, has reported that the finding of death was made by electrocardioanatomical recording and announced the result.
At 8:00 p.m. on Monday evening, Rome time, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, the ceremony of the confirmation of death and the placing of the body in the coffin took place, according to what was foreseen by the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (nos. 21-40), presided over by Kevin Joseph Farrell, Cardinal Camerlengo.
The Dean of the College of Cardinals, the pontifical family, as well as the director and vice-director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State were also summoned to the rite.
The testament of Francis
On the afternoon of Monday, June 21, the testament written by Pope Francis on June 29, 2022 was also made public. It is a simple document, of only seven paragraphs, in which he expressed his will to be buried in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. At that time, the Pontiff wrote: "Feeling that the end of my earthly life is approaching and with lively hope in Eternal Life, I wish to express my testamentary will only with regard to the place of my burial".
He stressed that he had always entrusted his life and his priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of God. And that is why he wished that his mortal remains rest in the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which has been the object of numerous visits by the Argentinean Pope, who used to pray before the image of the Mother of God. Salus Populi Romani before and after each of his apostolic journeys, "to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for her docile and maternal care".
A simple niche in the ground
Francis further requested in writing that his tomb be prepared "in the niche of the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica". He added that he wished the tomb to be "in the earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus".
And he concluded with words that echo the constant request for prayers for his person that has guided his ministry: "May the Lord give a well-deserved reward to those who have loved me and will continue to pray for me. The suffering that became present in the last part of my life I offered to the Lord for world peace and fraternity among peoples."
