Lessons from a Pope Francis Party Crasher

A Protestant's misadventure at the Vatican

As a Protestant, my only direct experience with the late Pope Francis was when I crashed his big party exactly 11 years ago.

I was living and working as an expat in Hamburg, Germany at the time. A dear friend from my high school in Missouri had moved to Rome and married an Italian. I was looking for any excuse to visit.

“You’re welcome to stay with me in Rome any time. But whatever you do, do not come Easter weekend. This is the first time the new Pope will preside over Easter Mass and the whole city will be a madhouse.”

With both Good Friday and Easter Monday free days off work, though, I couldn’t resist using the extra-long Easter weekend to visit Rome. Besides, how fun would it be to celebrate the new Pope who represented a beacon of hope and change to the status quo! Off I flew to spend Easter near the Vatican.

I wasn’t there long when I realized how right my friend was. She showed me around Rome on Holy Saturday. Wherever we went, we were surrounded by the throngs of people who had traveled from all over the world to celebrate Easter with the newly inaugurated Pope Francis. We finished our day in St. Peter’s Square where she described the next day’s festivities.

“I tried to get you tickets to attend Easter Mass here at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow,” she explained. “Apparently, it sold out almost a year ago. In previous years, friends of mine have come down here very early in the morning and nabbed a spot in that colonnade over there. It’s far back from the steps of St Peter’s Basilica where the Pope will be standing, but since you’re a bit higher than the square, you can at least view the service on the big screens. You’ll have to get up at the crack of dawn to get that spot.”

At 6 a.m. I left my hosts sleeping in their apartment to walk the mile down the winding cobblestone streets of Rome. I turned left to walk down Via della Conciliazione. Right as I got to the entrance of the Square, I saw a massive line of people. They were lined up near the colonnade, a perfect access point to my ideal viewing perch.

Lesson: If you see a line of people at 6 a.m., get in it. Anything worth a queue of people at that time will be worth the wait.

I joined the crowd of faithfuls and began to chat with anyone standing near me who spoke English. An hour and a half of waiting and small talk later, a bell rang, and people began to cheer. The noise generated by the crowd surprised me and I stepped just outside the line to turn and see the 150,000 people gathered between me and the Tiber River. When I returned to my place in line, I watched in horror as all the new friends I’d just made pulled out their tickets. Their prized tickets to mass. The tickets they’ve had for nearly a year.

Disappointment gripped me. I had stood in a line for hours and it had been a complete waste of time.

Lesson: Before you get in said line, check to see if it’s a dedicated ticketholder line.

I turned to look at the 150,000 people waiting to take my place in line then weighed my options. I could give up, step out of line, walk back to my friend’s apartment and watch the mass on tv. I could lie and tell the ticket taker, “I had a ticket, but I lost it.” Or I could tell the ticket taker, “I don’t have a ticket” and when she tells me I must have a ticket, I can ask her directions to get to the colonnade instead.

Lesson: Tell a lie on holy ground and risk a lightning strike.

My hands went clammy as I got closer and closer to the gate. Instead of proudly holding my ticket high like my fellow attendees, I whispered to the lady, “I don’t have a ticket.” She looked on me in kindness and said, “It’s okay. Go in.” Relieved, I smiled, opened my purse for her to inspect and wished her a very happy Easter.

Now that I was in, I had a singular goal: Get to the colonnade. I kept trying to go that direction, but there were barricades set up along the entire route. We were livestock being led to a pre-determined destination.

Lesson: If telling a lie on holy ground will get you in trouble with God, jumping a barricade will surely get you in trouble with the Swiss Guard.

I decided to just go with the flow…and was stunned when I saw the flow ended at a section of a couple thousand chairs set up in front of the stairs of St. Peter’s Basilica. There was no way out. I wouldn’t be watching the Holy Father on the big screen. I would be watching him from a seat, a mere 20 rows from the front.

Out of the thousands of people I could have sat next to, I wound up sitting next to a high school teacher who taught religion and Catholic catechism near Rome and happened to speak English. I had shown up here on a whim with only a basic understanding of Catholic mass and tradition. As we waited for the mass to start, he walked me through the order of service printed in a booklet that had been left on our seats. He explained the significance of the readings and gave me a brief biography of Pope Francis.

Lesson: It pays to make friends with fellow pilgrims.

At 10:15, a momentary hush fell over the crowd of 150,000 before they erupted with a joyful “Alleluia!”

As a lifelong weekly attendee of church, I’ve been to more church services than I can count. Truthfully, I don’t remember what was said or sung at the church service I attended two weeks ago. But I remember that Easter Mass 11 years ago.

I’ll never forget how Pope Francis stepped down off his throne and stepped aboard the popemobile to travel the aisles of the square. People flocked to him, just to touch him, to greet him with “Christ is Risen!” He had been heralded as a pope of the people, and I could see in his interactions with the people and theirs with him that he would be.

Lesson: To lead like Jesus, you must walk alongside the people as Jesus did.

I’ll never forget hearing his “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and to the world”) blessing. He prayed for economic justice, better stewardship of God’s creation, and I distinctively remember, peace in Ukraine and in Gaza. It is disheartening to realize these prayers of his were not answered in his lifetime. Not even Pope Francis was able to wield his significant influence to bring peace on earth.

Lesson: We place our hope not in popes or presidents, but in our risen King who promised to end all wars.

I’ll never forget hearing the good news of Jesus Christ proclaimed in so many different languages.

The birth of the Church was marked by the baptism of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by the disciples proclaiming the “mighty works of God” in foreign tongues.

And here I was, two thousand years later, listening to scripture readings, songs, and prayers about God’s most pivotal work, the resurrection of Jesus, in languages that represented the myriad of languages spoken by the Church worldwide. Some languages were familiar to me, some I’d never heard of. The only word that appeared to be universal was “Alleluia!” or “God be praised!”

Around me, the 150,000 who had traveled from all over the world to celebrate sang “Alleluia!” with gusto.

Lesson: The new world will consist of every nation, tribe, people, and language. (Revelation 7)

At that Easter Mass, I got a foretaste of heaven. Oh goodness, if that was a taste, then I know for sure heaven will be glorious.

I was saddened to hear today of Pope Francis’ passing. But having celebrated Easter with him back in 2014, I suspect heaven for him won’t be that different from his life on earth. Surely today he is surrounded by people of every nation, tribe and language praising our risen savior.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Author bio: Katherine González is an adventurer who loves to tell the stories from her escapades. You can read about her biggest adventure - sailing with her husband on a 34-foot boat across the Pacific - in her new book The Co-Captain’s Log. Follow her on Instagram (@cocaptainslog) or at www.cocaptainslog.com