PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The former spiritual leader of Philadelphia's 1.5 million Catholics has been laid to rest.

A funeral Mass was held Tuesday at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul for Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the archdiocese for more than 15 years. He died last week at the age of 88.

After the Mass, Bevilacqua was entombed in the crypt beneath the cathedral's altar with a Rite of Committal.

Near the end of the ceremonies, Archbishop Charles Chaput said "He loved his people. He loved Philadelphia."

Bevilacqua retired in 2003. In recent months, he had become central to a child sex abuse case involving former priests and a former high-ranking church administrator.