Five unusual papal burial places
A handful of popes are buried beyond the confines of Rome.
When Pope Francis is laid to rest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major Saturday, he will be the first pope since Leo XIII to be buried somewhere other than St. Peter’s Basilica.
But historically, it was not unusual for popes to be buried outside of the Vatican walls. Only around 90 of the 266 popes lie within St. Peter’s. Many were interred at other Roman basilicas. The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, for example, is the last resting place of 22 popes, including Leo XIII.
It’s more rare, however, for popes to be buried outside of Rome. But given the papacy’s turbulent history, it has happened several times. Here are some of the places outside of the Eternal City where you can find papal tombs.
1) Nonantola Abbey, Italy
In 885, Pope Adrian III (also known as Hadrian III) left Rome with the goal of visiting the city of Worms, where he hoped to bump into Charles the Fat, the gluttonous Carolingian emperor. Unfortunately, he never made it, dying near the northern Italian town of San Cesario sul Panaro, in circumstances disputed to this day. Due to unstable and violent conditions in Rome, the pope’s aides decided to bury him at the nearby Nonantola Abbey. Although it wasn’t Adrian’s wish to be buried there, it was a fitting setting as it housed the relics of Pope St. Sylvester I, and was a place of pilgrimage and hospitality.
2) Bamberg Cathedral, Germany
In 1047, Pope Clement II described the city of Bamberg as his “sweet bride,” seeming to express a longing to return there. He got his wish, though perhaps not in the way he imagined. He died suddenly on Oct. 9 that year, possibly from poisoning. His body was transported back to his beloved city, where he was interred in Bamberg Cathedral, becoming the only pope buried north of the Alps. Clement was not born in Bamberg, but rather in Hornburg, in modern Lower Saxony, a significant distance away. But his love for Bamberg was sealed when he was named bishop of the city in 1040, serving until his papal election in 1046.
3) The Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, Italy
When the hermit Pietro Angelerio da Morrone was traveling through L’Aquila in 1274, he reputedly had a dream of the Virgin Mary asking him to build a church on the hill of Collemaggio. He fulfilled the request by founding the church of Santa Maria di Collemaggio. When he was elected pope in 1294, taking the name Celestine V, he was crowned at the church, rather than in Rome. His pontificate was unhappy and unsuccessful. When he resigned as pope in 1294, his reasons included “the deficiencies of his own physical strength, his ignorance, the perverseness of the people, [and] his longing for the tranquility of his former life.” Celestine was not allowed to revert to being a hermit and died in 1296. His tomb at the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio was damaged during a devastating 2009 earthquake.
4) The Abbey Church of St. Victor, France
The Benedictine monk Guillaume de Grimoard was elected abbot of Saint-Victor in Marseille in 1361. An enterprising figure, he set about expanding the abbey’s influence in the bustling port city. Just a year later, he was elected pope, taking the name Urban V. The papacy was then based in nearby Avignon, from where he continued to take a keen interest in the abbey, which was enlarged and fortified. Following his death in 1370, he was buried briefly at Avignon but later moved to the abbey, in accordance with his wishes. The pious, austere Urban was the only Avignon pope to be beatified. The abbey was ransacked during the French Revolution.
5) The Cathedral of San Flaviano, Italy
When Pope Gregory XII abdicated in 1415, in an attempt to resolve the Western Schism, he needed somewhere to live. The schism was a time of high ecclesial drama, in which there were competing claimants for the papacy. Gregory opted for Recanati, a hilltop town in the Marche region, around 150 miles from Rome and removed from the city’s politicking. When Gregory died two years later, he was buried in the local cathedral, rather than in Rome or his native Venice, in a notably simple tomb for a pope.
Charles the fat catching strays from the Pillar
Hold on, media outlets keeps making a big deal about Francis bucking tradition and being buried outside St Peter's and the last Pope to do so only died just over 100 years ago?