As we mourn the loss of our Holy Father, it's also inspiring to reminisce back on when Pope Francis was first elected. If you've ever wondered what it was like to be in Rome during that historic moment, Timmerie will share her personal encounter and help you live vicariously through her!

 

You can hear Timmerie's full hour of reflections about Pope Francis and what happens when a pope dies here.

 

 

Timmerie arrived in Rome on March 19th, 2013, literally hours after Pope Francis’ papal inauguration on the Solemnity of St. Joseph! The air was electric with what she called an “after-party energy,” a lingering buzz of joy and hope among the crowds. All over the streets: chants of "Papa Francesco! Papa Francesco!" 

 

 

The Popemobile Shocker

 

Let’s set the scene: for decades, the popemobile was this sealed-off, bulletproof bubble of security. But Pope Francis rolled out in an open-window Popemobile and then stepped out of it!  Swiss Guards = panicked. Crowd = ecstatic.

 

Timmerie made her way to the front of the barrier, reaching out as far as she could. She didn’t manage to touch him, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

 

 

A Moment of Radical Mercy

 

Right next to her stood a young man in a wheelchair. Pope Francis had him lifted up over the crowd to be kissed and blessed. This was a direct rejection of the "culture of waste" the Pope often decried. 

 

Timmerie captured that moment on her old-school 2013 iPhone. The photos spread like wildfire, showing the world a pope who would bend the rules to raise up the lowly. She saw it firsthand... the beginning of a new papal tone: intimacy, mercy, and fierce love for the forgotten.

 

 

A Shepherd Among the Sheep

 

She wraps her story remembering those early months when we’d hear how Pope Francis would sneak out at night to minister to the poor, something unthinkable with previous popes. But that was Pope Francis: a Latin American shepherd sent by the Spirit, literally stepping off his throne to be with his flock. 

 

 

Timmerie was there for the birth of a new chapter in Church history. And she leaves us with a reminder to pray for the soul of Pope Francis, this bold, compassionate man chosen to lead us.