A group of nearly 200 New York-area Catholics traveling to Rome this week were hoping to meet Pope Francis.
After months of planning, worshippers from the Archdiocese of New York (including former police commissioner Ray Kelly) were preparing to set out on a weekly trip to the Italian capital on Wednesday.
The trip was intended to celebrate both the 75th birthday of Archbishop of New York, Timothy M. Dolan, and the year of this Jubilee, a special time of grace and forgiveness observed every 25 years in the Catholic Church.
“I thought we might have an audience. [Pope Francis] While on the trip…it was definitely a possibility,” recalls Cindy Caruso Aquila, one of the parishioners, on Saturday.
Instead, on Friday the group was granted VIP access to see the clergy cas at St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican, arranged by Cardinal Dolan by.
“A lot of people waited in line for six to seven hours to pass the cas. We went through the back door, which many high-ranking officials are experiencing, and we had the opportunity to walk right by the Pope’s cas.
Dolan gave the group a private tour of the Vatican. And it gave insight into the last conclave voted for in the late Pope Francis.
“It was very special to be in the room where Cardinals voted for the new Pope,” she said.
“It was an extraordinary experience. It’s all very special and very spiritual,” Aquila said.
The group is expected to return to Imperial State on Tuesday.
