This was the best of my photos from when I saw Pope Francis at The Vatican in 2013. It is still a bit of a ‘Where’s Wally?’ picture to find him. That’s him in white behind the man in red.
I can still remember the day clearly when I saw Pope Francis in person.
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It was September 2013, and I was backpacking around Europe for a year, and was staying in Rome at the time.
I had visited the famous St Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican the day before and, on seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of seats being placed in the square outside, I asked what they were for.
“The Pope is saying Mass here tomorrow,” I was told.
And, as it turned out, everyone was welcome to attend.
It wasn’t any special occasion apparently. It was just something he regularly did.
Well, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.
How often would one ever see the Pope say Mass?
Surely, this should be on a list of things that a person backpacking Europe should do.
And this was a Pope that had only relatively recently started in the position — he had only been in the role for six months at that time.
He went on to lead the Catholic Church for just over 12 years.
I got up ridiculously early the next morning and caught a train to The Vatican.
As I walked to the square outside St Peter’s Basilica, I discovered just how popular these Masses by the Pope were, with throngs of people joining me in the line to get in.
I had been warned that I had to be early — very early.
And I’m not talking about being 15 minutes early either, which is what I would normally consider as being very early for something. This was proper early.
I was there two hours before the Pope arrived, and even then, I was well back in the crowd.
It was then just a matter of waiting it out for the arrival of the Pope with thousands of others, including quite a few nuns, with some sitting quite close to me.
I still remember one quite young nun saying how excited she was to be there and to get to see the Pope.
I felt the same. But it was still a surprise to me to hear a nun say it.
Monique Preston with her ticket to the Mass said by Pope Francis at The Vatican in 2013.
I was a long way back from the makeshift altar at the front, and to be honest, I thought my look at the Pope would be one where he was tiny in the distance.
However, when he arrived, he spent about 20 minutes working his way through the crowd on his Pope mobile.
This was a far closer look at the Pope than I could even have expected, or hoped for.
At one point, he was only about 20m away from me.
My photos of that event. Well, let’s just say it was difficult getting a clear shot with that many people there.
Instead, my photo turned out to be more like a ‘Where’s Wally?’ picture to find the Pope in it.
But I knew he was in it. That was enough for me.
It proved I was there and had seen him. And was a memory of that day to hold on to.
When he finally made his way to the altar, he was, as expected, a tiny speck in the distance.
But I had seen him up close, and that in itself was enough of a thrill.
And, I had expected that I would not understand a word of what was said during the Mass (like that time I went to the opera in Austria and didn’t understand anything — I just wanted to be able to say I had that experience because, well, who wouldn’t?).
However, on this occasion there was another surprise.
With those attending coming from so many different countries, most things that were said were translated into several different languages so everyone could participate.
As the world mourns after the death of Pope Francis this week, I have had time to reflect on this experience, and just how lucky I was to have seen him in person that one time.
It is something I will always remember, and am so glad I had the chance to do.
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