The Popes tombstone

Last weekend, Pope Francis, known for his humility and progressive views was laid to rest in a modest tomb within the Basilica of St Mary Major. His final resting place is made from Ligurian marble, chosen for its ties to his grandparents and described by Vatican News as “the people’s stone.”

It’s quiet. It’s beautiful and yet… designers everywhere couldn’t help but focus on one very specific detail: the kerning.

Inscribed into the stone is the Latin name “Franciscvs.” But thanks to some baffling letter spacing, it reads more like:

F R A NCIS VS

To the average eye, this might seem minor. But to designers, it’s a huge mistake..

Why does this matter?

Because kerning isn’t just spacing, it’s care, it shows you appreciate the typeface and how text should look. It’s the art of adjusting space between letters so words feel balanced, elegant, intentional. And when it’s done badly, especially in something permanent, sacred, and public it becomes a visual distraction.

Experts agree: the spacing appears machine-calculated, based on the outer edges of each letter, not their forms (essentially the space between each character is the same, not allowing for different views of each character). A classic rookie mistake, possibly the result of carving straight from a digital layout without any optical adjustment. It's as though someone thought as they can turn a computer on they know typography - clearly not!

A deeper irony

Pope Francis often spoke about humility, humanity, and the imperfections we all carry. So perhaps, in a poetic twist, this tomb, with its glaringly imperfect typography captures something honest about the human condition (but I dont think so).

But, for those of us who live and breathe design, this could have been better. It should have been better because whether we’re building a brand or carving a name in stone, the details matter. Maybe especially the eternal ones.

The typeface used 'Times New Roman' wouldn't be on the list of appropriate fonts either.