Maryknoll resident Sandra Wilson counts herself fortunate to have met the Pope Francis when she visited Rome in 2016. After his passing in April, she wrote this personal reflection on that experience:

In 2013, my very good friends Carmel and Mary approached me with the idea to travel overseas. On speaking with my close friend, Geoff Congdon, he suggested I see the Pope. So, I chose to go to Italy to visit the Pope, Mary chose to go to England as her mother came from the Lincolnshire area, and Carmel chose Ireland because she knew the Sydney Parish Priest of 60 years, Ordained and celebrated in Ireland, Fr Gerard T Ryan.

After several discussions with Fr Leo Donnelly, we learnt that we had to have an official invitation to attend a ceremony in St Peter’s Square and on his advice, Carmel wrote to the Vatican. Father D asked us to pass on a message to the Pope, advising “that the Parish of Port Macquarie was going well.” My friend, Geoff Congdon, gave me a set of Rosary beads to have blessed by the Pope.

It took us three years to save up and we then contacted the Port Macquarie Travel Agency who did the final organising for us.

In June 2016, we set out to Italy via our first stop, Dubai, where we stayed for a week.

On arrival in Rome, we purchased our tickets at the Basilica, and were escorted to our seats by Swiss guards. There were so many people in the Square, some 50,000 of us and in 39-degree heat! We waited from 8.30am to 10.30am, then…

The Pope came out to bless myself, Carmel and Mary. He kissed our cheeks, touched our heads and blessed the Rosary beads I had from Geoff, as he spoke in Italian. I gave the Pope Fr D’s message from Port Macquarie.

It is not every day a person has the opportunity to meet someone so important in the world…Pope Francis was so very well thought of, with lots of good intentions. They still speak about him in the media of how good a person he was.

Afterwards, we visited St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, where there were so many beautiful paintings, we went to the museum, and we saw a Bishop laying in state. We also visited the Trevi Fountain where we threw coins into the fountain, Milan, Venice, and Florence. We had a lovely gondola ride together in Venice.

On our return to Port Macquarie, we let Father D know that we had passed our message on to the Pope and delivered the blessed Rosary beads to my friend, Geoff. My photo greeting the Pope still hangs in the Presbytery today.

It was so very sad for the three of us to hear of the Pope’s passing. It was such a significant moment in our lives for us to meet him. When he gave the Easter blessing before his passing, I recited the Eternal Rest Prayer.

l felt so very special, very honoured to have been there…if the Pope were to be made a Saint, we all feel very blessed and proud to think that we met a Saint.