Pope Francis’ chief doctor, Sergio Alfieri, has just pulled back the curtain on one of the most intimate and emotional events in recent history: the death of the 88-year-old pontiff on Easter Monday, April 21. And what he revealed is as somber as it is sacred.
According to the doctor Alfieri, Pope Francis slipped into a coma with his eyes open early that morning, unresponsive to pain, voice, or even his trusted inner circle. There was no dramatic farewell, no last words. Just silence.
“He didn’t respond to any stimuli,” Alfieri told Corriere Della Sera. “At that moment, I understood there was nothing more to be done.”
The emergency call came just after 5:30 a.m. from the Pope’s private nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who had been with him through thick and thin. Alfieri rushed to the Santa Marta residence, the Pope’s chosen home during his papacy. But it was too late. Francis was breathing, but no longer there.
A Final Wish Fulfilled
What followed was a quiet, deeply spiritual farewell. Nurses, secretaries, and cardinals gathered in the room, praying the Rosary together. The air was heavy, but peaceful.
“That morning I gave him a caress as a last farewell,” Alfieri shared.
And in keeping with Pope Francis’ wishes, always a Pope of the people, his final resting place will break centuries of tradition.
Instead of joining his predecessors beneath the grandeur of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis requested something simpler, something deeply personal: to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major, a place he visited religiously before and after every apostolic journey.
His final testament, just released by the Vatican, makes it clear: no pomp, no frills, no lavish tomb. Just the name “Franciscus” etched into stone.
The Testament of a Humble Pontiff
In his will, Francis wrote with clarity and humility:
“As I sense the approaching twilight of my earthly life, I wish to set out my final wishes solely regarding the place of my burial… I ask that my mortal remains rest, awaiting the day of the Resurrection, in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.”
Even his burial costs have already been taken care of, by a benefactor, arranged quietly in advance. A gesture that perfectly reflects the man who never wore the papal crown, preferred a modest apartment to the Apostolic Palace, and once refused custom shoes because they were “too flashy.”
A Legacy Bigger Than the Vatican
Francis’ death marks the end of one of the most radical, reform-driven papacies in modern Catholic history. From his calls for climate action to welcoming marginalized communities, Pope Francis reshaped the Church’s tone, and ruffled more than a few feathers along the way.
But in his final act, he once again turned away from grandeur and toward grace.
“The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples.”
No elaborate cathedral, no golden sarcophagus. Just a man, his God, and his final prayer for unity.
Whether you saw him as a revolutionary, a traditionalist, or somewhere in between, one thing is certain: Francis left this world on his own terms. Quietly. Humbly. And completely in line with his values.
And that, perhaps more than anything, is what made him unforgettable.
