A group of nearly 200 prominent New York-area Catholics traveling in Rome this week were hoping to meet Pope Francis — never guessing they would be on hand to pay their final respects instead.
After months of planning, worshippers from the Archdiocese of New York — including former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly — were gearing up Wednesday to leave for a week-long trip to Italy’s capital.
The trip was meant to celebrate both New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan’s 75th birthday, as well as this Jubilee Year, a special time for grace and forgiveness observed every 25 years in the Catholic Church.
“I thought we might have an audience with [Pope Francis] on the trip… it was definitely a possibility,” one of the parishioners, Cindy Caruso Aquila, recalled Saturday.
Instead, on Friday, the group was granted VIP access to view the pontiff’s casket in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, arranged by Cardinal Dolan.
“Many people were waiting in line for six or seven hours to walk past the casket, and we got in through a back door that many of the dignitaries were going through, and we got a chance to walk right by the pope’s casket. So that was very special, to see him,” Aquila said.
Dolan gave the group a private tour of the Vatican — and insight into the last conclave, which voted in the late Pope Francis.
“It was very special to be in the room where the cardinals voted in a new pope,” she said.
“It has been an extraordinary experience – it’s all very special, very spiritual,” Aquila said.
The group is expected to return to the Empire State on Tuesday.
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