St. Thomas student who spoke at Easter Sunday in Vatican City remembers Pope Francis

University of St. Thomas students studying at their Rome Bernardi Campus have found themselves in the thick of world news. They were there for Pope Francis’ final public appearance on Easter Sunday and the pontiff’s death the following day.

Alex Lenzmeier, class of 2028, was one of a handful of students who gave a reading on Easter in St. Peter's Basilica and was surrounded by his peers when news of the pope’s passing broke Monday morning. He joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to share his experience of being in Italy right now.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player button above.

How were you chosen to give a reading on Easter?

So Thanos Zyngas has been the director of our campus here in Rome for quite some time, and he's built up connections. And so every year, the Vatican reaches out to him, asking if there are any students who would be interested in reading. And I thought to myself, “it's too good of an opportunity to pass up.” And so he signed me up for it, and had a rehearsal on Saturday, and then I read at Mass on Sunday.

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How were you feeling in St. Peter’s Basilica?

I had grown up altar serving, but I had never read at Mass before, and so I was a little nervous. The rehearsal on Saturday went pretty well. And then we had a rehearsal before Mass on Sunday, and looking out and seeing just the thousands of people standing out in the square, that was a little nerve-wracking. But I tried to put that down, not think about that or the broadcast. And then once I got up there for the reading during mass, it went pretty smoothly.

What were you thinking while near Pope Francis?

Because of his illness, we didn't have a chance to speak with him at all. He gave his Urbi et Orbi blessing from the balcony, and we could kind of see him. But then he came down in the Popemobile and drove right next to us a few times. He seemed pretty happy to be out there, although he did look quite ill. But it was good for the people of Rome, Catholics in Rome, to be able to see him one last time.

Where were you when you heard about his death, and how did you first react?

We were just on our campus, doing some schoolwork, eating breakfast. When the news came out, we all kind of saw it on our phones around the same time, and then we got together and talked about it, because obviously it has a lot of impact on us Catholics, especially, you know, Catholic studies students in Rome.

Obviously we are sad, but he's been Pope for 12 years now, and he did a great job and played a huge role in the development of the Catholic Church in the early 21st century. We know he's in a better place now, and we're very grateful for all the things he's done, especially for the young students.

Do you feel like the Pope's death is maybe hitting you differently because you're in Italy, versus back in Minnesota?

Oh, absolutely. I was quite young when Francis was elected, though I remember it being a big occasion. But now, the magnitude of it's just so much greater because we're here. We're going to be participating and watching in St. Peter's Basilica for when the new pope is elected. We’ll try to be as involved as we can with the papal funeral. Everyone is so connected to the Pope and the Catholic faith here; the death of the Pope really affects everyone here. And if Rome wasn't busy before for the Jubilee year and for the Easter season, it's going to be very busy the next few weeks.