where do they bury the popes

Most popes are buried in or under churches in Rome, especially at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Main places where popes are buried

• St. Peter’s Basilica & the Vatican Grottoes (Vatican City): For many centuries, this has been the primary burial place, in crypts beneath the basilica, close to the traditional tomb of Saint Peter, the first pope.

• Other Roman churches : Some popes, especially from earlier centuries, are buried in other major basilicas around Rome, such as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major and other historic churches.

• Catacombs and older cemeteries : In the early Christian period, several popes were buried in Rome’s catacombs, such as the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, which contain a “crypt of the popes.”

• Elsewhere in Europe : A smaller number of popes, particularly during times when the papacy was based outside Rome (for example Avignon in France), were buried in other European cities.

Today, the “default” expectation is burial in the Vatican Grottoes under St. Peter’s, unless a pope requests another church as his resting place, as happened recently with Pope Francis, who chose the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.