Pope Francis said in an interview Tuesday that he hopes to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a Roman church he has often visited during the decade of his pontificate. ...If he is eventually buried at St. Mary Major, Pope Francis will be the first pope to be interred outside of St. Peter’s Basilica in more than 100 years. But he will not be the first pope to be buried in the basilica of St. Mary Major. Six popes are interred in the Church, but the most recent to be buried there died more than 350 years ago.