The church that will be pontiff’s resting place

1. Every time Pope Francis came back to Rome after a trip abroad, he made sure to pay a visit to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore.
2. it was a fitting choice: Francis was particularly devoted to the Virgin Mary, and Santa Maria Maggiore was the first church to be dedicated to her when it was built in the 4th Century.
3. It is one of Rome's four major basilicas and one of the oldest in the city.
4. On Saturday, it will also become Francis's final resting place.

Pope Francis' doctor found the pontiff with his eyes open and breathing normally, but unresponsive when he was called to the Vatican early Monday morning, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Thursday.

Dr Sergio Alfieri coordinated Francis' five-week hospital treatment for double pneumonia and continued to oversee the pope's treatment after the pontiff returned to the Vatican on March 23 for two months of rest to allow a full recovery.

Alfieri was alerted at 5:30 am on Monday by Francis' health care assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, that Francis had been stricken and needed to be taken to the hospital. The doctor told Corriere that he arrived 20 minutes later.

"I went into his room, and he had his eyes open. I noted that he did not have respiratory issues, so I tried to call him but he did not respond," Alfieri was quoted as saying. "He also did not respond to stimuli, even painful ones. In that moment I understood there was nothing more to do. He was in a coma." 

Alfieri said it was too risky moving Francis back to the Gemelli hospital, where he was treated for a complex respiratory infection that nearly killed him twice. "The pope wanted to die at home, he always said it while he was at Gemelli," Alfieri said.

The pope died two hours after suffering a stroke. Cardinal Pietro Parolin arrived and said the rosary over the body, accompanied by the papal household staff, Alfieri told the Milan daily.