The remains of Pope Francis was on Saturday laid to rest in Rome.
According to agency reports, he was buried outside the Vatican at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the main Basilicas in Rome, altering a 100-year-old tradition of the church.
Pope Francis had said he wished to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore, a basilica to which he felt deeply connected and often visited to pray.
The Pope died on Easter Monday at age 88, after a prolonged battle with bilateral pneumonia.
Catholic faithful, world leaders, politicians, and royalty from all over the world gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their last respects to the Pope.
Francis was laid to rest in a simple wooden casket lined with zinc, honoring his wish to forgo the elaborate tradition of his predecessors, who had been buried in three nesting coffins of cypress, lead, and oak.
The late pontiff’s requiem mass was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals, joined by patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and priests from around the world.
Following his burial, the church will commence a nine-day mourning period, after which the college of cardinals will elect a new pope.
US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Prince William were among the dignitaries present at the funeral.
President Bola Tinubu, had on Friday, sent a delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, alongside Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, minister of state for foreign affairs; Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, to pay tribute to the late Pope.
Other delegates include Matthew Kukah, archbishop of the Sokoto diocese, and Ignatius Ayua Kaigama, archbishop of the Abuja diocese.
