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Francis set the stage for his own mourning late last year, when he approved a simplified procedure for papal funeral rituals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Simplicity, of course, is relative \u2014 in this case to the breathtaking grandeur bequeathed by centuries of Roman Catholic tradition. <\/p>\n The procession above took place Wednesday morning, when Francis\u2019 coffin was carried from the Casa Santa Marta, the cardinals\u2019 guesthouse where he lived instead of the regal papal apartments, to St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, where his body is to spend three days lying in state.<\/p>\n The pope\u2019s remains will lie below the basilica\u2019s 380-foot-high Renaissance dome, with its gilding and its gorgeous mosaics, in front of the <\/span>bronze canopy that Bernini made to embellish its high altar.<\/p>\n But it rests there on a low pedestal, not a bier. And the plans omitted a private viewing at the Apostolic Palace for cardinals and other dignitaries, though the coffin did spend a period for quiet farewells<\/a> in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.<\/p>\n Nor will St. Peter\u2019s be the final stop. Francis asked to be buried at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, where he prayed before and after every journey of his papacy. His will specifies a simple tomb, \u201cin the earth,\u201d with a single-word inscription: \u201cFranciscus.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Elisabetta Povoledo, Emma Bubola and Alan Yuhas contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n