On Nov. 20, 2024, the Holy Father, Pope Francis announced that after the approval of a second miracle for Blessed Carlo Acutis, he would be canonized in Rome on April 27, 2025.
A son of one of my parishioners, Graeme Nardozzi, had taken Blessed Carlo’s name as his confirmation name. His mother, Michelle Nardozzi, asked if I would take them to Rome for the canonization and the Jubilee of Teenagers. I invited my new parish coordinator of religious education, Jeffrey Sliney, who brought along his former college roommate, Ryan Hamilton, a youth minister in Syracuse, N.Y.
I grew concerned as the canonization approached because the Holy Father’s health had taken a serious turn. However, when I saw him present at the Easter Sunday Mass and audience, I thought everything would be all right.
We were to depart for Rome on Monday, April 21, and just moments before I began my last daily Mass at Corpus Christi, I was shocked to hear that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, had died.
Of course, the news threw most of our plans out of the window. We were not sure what to expect.
Once we arrived, I was able to obtain permission from the Liturgical Office of the Holy See to concelebrate Pope Francis’ Requiem Mass. Even though the Holy Father had passed away, the Holy Year Jubileum 2025 was still on. So, we set off to visit the various churches, celebrating Mass sometimes in our hotel room, but other times in very exquisite places like the Church of the Most Holy Trinity and visited Assisi and saw the tombs of St. Clare, St. Francis of Assisi and finally Blessed Carlo Acutis.
The day before the funeral, I had the privilege of having the opportunity to wait in line with so many other pilgrims to view and pay my respects to the body of the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Basilica. It was very somber –- but beautiful at the same time to see how loved our Holy Father Pope Francis had been as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands present.
On Saturday morning, the day of the funeral, we set out early. I arrived at the post for the entry of priests – and after having my credentials checked a few times and then finally very carefully by an actual Swiss guard, I was admitted to the priest section.
The funeral began at 10 a.m., so prior to its beginning I had an opportunity to get to know some of the priests around me. It was a special experience – I knew no one – and no one knew me, yet we all felt the sense of solidarity united in Christ, praying as priests of Jesus Christ, praying for the Holy Father.
It is interesting that each Pope issues a specific ritual for their funerals and I had seen how elaborate Pope St. John Paul II’s celebration had been. I knew that Pope Francis, like Pope Benedict XVI, had requested a simple funeral and to be buried in a simple wooden casket.
Finally, the Mass began and as the Holy Father’s body was carried out of St. Peter’s Basilica the crowd erupted in cheers which brought tears to my eyes. The Pope’s funeral was very much like other people’s funerals with the readings, Eucharist, remarkably communion for everyone and then came the final farewell.
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re, the celebrant of the Mass, began the final prayers and incensed the Holy Father’s coffin. Then interestingly, which I had seen at Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI funerals, the language switched from Latin to Greek, and the Byzantine Bishops sang their prayers of the funeral office from the Byzantine Liturgy then the concluding hymn began and people began clapping out of respect.
On top of the Holy Father’s casket was an open the Book of the Gospels, as Cardinal Re walked around his body, the wind picked up, and the pages of the Gospel began to blow and flutter, I thought about it as I was praying – it seemed poetic because during his entire life Pope Francis had walked through and lived those same pages of the Gospel that were now fluttering in the wind.
May he rest in peace.
