A St. Thomas student's reflections on mourning Pope Francis in Rome

NINA MOINI: Catholics across the state and the world are mourning the death of Pope Francis, who died at age 88 yesterday. And his death marked the start of a nine day mourning period. He will lay in state starting tomorrow morning at Saint Peter's Basilica before being laid to rest Saturday, and the faithful are flocking to Rome to pay their respects. That is on top of the tourists who were already in town for Easter. A Saint Thomas student is working on a Catholic studies course with a cohort from her school in Rome. She's on the line right now. Clare Willson, thank you for joining me.

CLARE WILLSON: Hi. Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: Yes, indeed. Thanks for being with us with the time change and all of that. So time zone difference, rather. Tell me the story of how you heard about Pope Francis's death yesterday.

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah, so my family is in town, and so now I'm going to see all the things that I've been putting off seeing in Rome. So we were at this Capuchin monk crypt, the bone church, which is kind of crazy, because these Capuchin monks, they decorated the crypt with bones of other Capuchin monks. And so it's kind of like, I don't know, it's an interesting meditation on mortality and stuff like that.

And we walked out into the gift shop, and there was just a sign on the information desk that said that Pope Francis had died. And no one who had any information spoke English. So we were all so confused. But yeah, that's basically how I found out. I don't know.

NINA MOINI: OK. Yeah. So what have things been like in the past 24 hours in Rome?

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah, lots of prayer for the Pope. Lots of rosaries. Yeah, my cohorts said one last night together. Lots of people flocking to Saint Peter's, too.

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

CLARE WILLSON: I know my family tried to visit and I tried to visit, and it was just not going to happen.

NINA MOINI: Big long lines?

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah, yeah.

NINA MOINI: You saw the Pope at the Vatican earlier this year. What was that like?

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah, it was a really cool experience. I really appreciated seeing all the Catholics from different countries. Hearing them speak to all these people in different languages, it was really crazy. There were so many people there. I appreciate how the Pope spoke to all of us. Yeah, it's hard, because there's a language barrier. He speaks Italian, so that was hard. But yeah, he's so approachable. So watching him blessing all the babies and all these married couples and then seeing him being wheeled around was super crazy. It was so crazy to have that experience.

NINA MOINI: I can imagine that just hearing all the different languages and seeing people from around the world must really drive some point home about how there are, of course, Catholics around the world. I'm curious, Clare, how has your study abroad group or your classes, how have you been talking about the Pope?

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah.

NINA MOINI: Have you been reflecting on his legacy or what have those conversations sounded like?

CLARE WILLSON: Honestly, I haven't had a lot of them. A lot of my cohort is out of town, which yeah, it's kind of bad timing, I guess. But in talking with a lot of my friends, people just are calling me because this is a crazy time to be in Rome. But everyone is just-- everyone I've talked to is really amazed by how humble this Pope has been, Pope Francis, and all the work he's put in for social justice and stuff like that.

NINA MOINI: Are you going to the funeral on Saturday?

CLARE WILLSON: Yes, I am.

NINA MOINI: Tell me more about what you expect, what will happen?

CLARE WILLSON: I mean, I have no idea. I know there's a ton of world leaders coming in, which is crazy. It was crazy enough when King Charles was here. And now it's everyone's coming in and it's a Jubilee year. So even more Catholics than usual are in Rome for Easter. And so I can imagine a lot of them aren't leaving. So I bet it's going to be insane. I don't know. Trying to get into Saint Peter's Square, because during Easter mass, it was just a sea of people. Even people who didn't get tickets to Easter mass, they were just outside Vatican Square for what looked like 800 meters. It was just, I don't even know why you would be there if there was no chance of you seeing anything.

NINA MOINI: Just to be part of the atmosphere, maybe?

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah. So I can imagine it's going to be crazy.

NINA MOINI: Well, Clare, you are studying in Rome until the end of May, so you'll likely be there for the conclave and the implementation of a new Pope. Talk about historic time to be studying abroad. Do you have any-- what are you looking forward to with that?

CLARE WILLSON: I've never, I mean, last time a Pope was elected, I was, I don't maybe, I was in middle school. So I have no memories of that. So I think I don't really know exactly what they do. Because I know there's the smoke and then that's just they've chosen the Pope. But what happens in the meantime? What do we hear? I don't think we hear anything, actually, about their conversations. But like, yeah, I want to be a part of all the ceremonies, all that I can.

NINA MOINI: Well, whatever there is to see or hear, you will get the chance to see it much closer than the rest of us. So, Clare, thank you for talking with us.

CLARE WILLSON: Yeah, Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: Enjoy the rest of your study abroad program. That was Clare Willson. She's a sophomore at Saint Thomas University studying abroad in Rome.