The Pope, famous—perhaps foremost—for his insistence on simplicity and aversion to clerical glitz, wanted to be buried not at the Vatican but at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, where before and after each of his international trips he went to pray.

A note placed in Pope Francis’s coffin before he was buried paid tribute to his courage, his love of the poor and his “dialogue with Muslims and representatives of other religions”.It referred to the 266th pope as “the beloved Shepherd of the Church”.

Pope Francis, the pontiff whose acts of love and humility rippled through his papacy, was laid to rest in a service he deliberately simplified.

About 250,000 mourners in Vatican City fell into hushed silence on Saturday morning as the funeral for Pope Francis began. The church choir echoed through loudspeakers across the city-state. Some bowed their heads in respect.

Hundreds of people filed past the tomb of Pope Francis from early on Sunday morning in the Roman basilica where he chose to be buried in a break from tradition. No pope had been laid to rest outside the Vatican in more than a century,