As Eva Hoefer and other teens and their chaperones prepared to board a flight to Rome with plans to attend the April 27 canonization of Italian teenager Blessed Carlo Acutis, they found that everything about their pilgrimage was suddenly up in the air, except the destination.
With the announcement of Pope Francis’ April 21 death that same day, Hoefer, 14, and others in the group organized through St. John the Evangelist in Little Canada learned that the canonization had been postponed and the papal funeral would take place April 26.
They missed a canonization, but Hoefer and four other teens from St. John the Evangelist and one from St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, along with their chaperones, received unique opportunities and blessings through the change of events, while still finding a connection with Blessed Carlo.
“I thought I was going to go to the canonization of a great saint but instead we went to the funeral of a great pope,” said Hoefer, who is a member of St. John the Evangelist and is home schooled. “It was stunning and just surprising.”
On their weeklong trip, group leaders often had to recalculate their plans, not only because of the postponed canonization but because of tour cancellations and the addition of events related to Pope Francis’ funeral.
The Minnesota group had the uncommon experience of attending the papal funeral in St. Peter’s Square with 250,000 others. A few days before that, they visited the church and attended Mass in Assisi, Italy, where Blessed Carlo is buried.
The teens and their group leaders also visited Roman sites including the Coliseum and Roman Forum. They did a roughly 15-mile walking pilgrimage of the “Seven Churches” conceived in the 16th century by St. Philip Neri, which included stops at some of Rome’s major basilicas.
The teens also attended, along with thousands of other young people, events for the April 25-27 Jubilee of Teenagers, part of Pope Francis’ declaration of Jubilee Year 2025 and its theme Pilgrims of Hope.
“We woke up to that news (of the Holy Father’s death) and actually finished our packing and got to the airport,” said Veronica White, the group’s leader and St. John the Evangelist high school youth minister.
“It definitely was a last minute, lots of itinerary switching,” White said from Rome, after the pope’s funeral. “I feel like every day there’s something that has changed. We had tours that were canceled because of everything going on at the Vatican … but at the same time” the group paid respects to Pope Francis as he lay in state before the funeral, and members of the group attended the funeral in St. Peter’s Square for the funeral.
While there was some disappointment at first about cancellation of the canonization, the students saw the significance of being in Rome around the papal funeral and paying respects to the late pontiff, she said.
“They recognize how much (of a) gift that is and how like, OK, maybe they can’t attend the canonization like they were expecting, but we’re here to take part in this time of mourning and preparing for this time of transition for the Church,” White said.
With the changes, the group resolved that the Lord was up to something bigger and tried to enter them, said Laura Haraldson, a St. John the Evangelist parishioner who attended the trip with her two oldest children. “I think every single one of us chaperones experienced that in a different, unique way,” said Haraldson, who works for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a project manager.
Haraldson told St. Paul-based KSTP-TV that she feels a special connection to Pope Francis after an unexpected moment with him on a trip to Vatican City last year.
“I actually did have the opportunity to meet him at (a) general audience,” Haraldson told the television station. “He turned around and he said to me, ‘Pray for me. Remember,’” Haraldson recalled. “It was a really powerful moment for me. I continue to pray for him. I continue to pray for all the things he has done and continues to do.”
White said members of the group got up before 3:30 a.m. April 26 to travel to St. Peter’s Basilica from the Italian parish on the outskirts of Rome that was hosting them, so they could find a spot in St. Peter’s Square where they could participate in the two-hour funeral Mass.
A freshman from Hill-Murray School in Maplewood with the group, Zoe Turcotte, 14, said it was “an amazing time to be in Rome and Vatican City to witness this historical moment in the Church.”
Pope Francis’ passing was sad, she said, because she’d thought his condition had been improving. But, Turcotte added, “he was a great representation of what embodying the Catholic faith should look like.”
At the funeral, she said, “the feeling of love and respect for the Pope was palpable even before the Mass began and even though the Mass was mostly in Italian, I could feel all the emotions of the crowd and that got the message through.”
White started organizing the trip last November when she heard that the Vatican would be inviting different groups to Rome for the Jubilee Year at different times. When she learned that Blessed Carlo Acutis would be canonized during the Jubilee for Teenagers, she thought of taking high schoolers to the event.
Blessed Carlo, a British-born teen of Italian descent, who died of leukemia at age 15 in 2006, was known for his devotion to the Eucharist and love of computers. He was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020.
Gabriel Lind, 16, a junior from St. John the Evangelist who is home schooled, said he has a special connection to Blessed Carlo because like the Italian up for canonization, he fell in love with God at a young age, serves the Church in many ways and loves gaming.
“The pope was a really good and simple pope for our age, and I will miss him for trying to make people happy and the Church beautiful,” Lind said.
Lind said seeing St. Peter’s Basilica was a highlight. “It was a showcase of our religion and faith, and it was gorgeous and beautiful to think of the importance of it and how big it is and how many times I’m in awe,” he said.
Haraldson said she saw the teens praying with intentionality as they visited the churches and asked questions about the events surrounding the pope’s passing, including an upcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope.
“That was some of the things that they were asking a lot of questions about as the week went on,” Haraldson said. “Inquiring about what it is, you know whose votes, how many, who is the front runner” for the next pope. Some of the questions were natural and some of the leaders didn’t have answers for. But it’s good to hear them curious.”
The pilgrimage may not have been what they initially expected, but for Hoefer it was the chance of a lifetime. “I never thought I would go to a pope’s funeral. It is sad that he died but also a new chance for someone else and to make the world a better place.”
Despite the somberness of the Pope’s passing, Lind added, “It was a wonderful day! It has been so clear how God has been arranging each and every moment.”
REQUIEM MASS FOR POPE FRANCIS
A requiem Mass for Pope Francis will be celebrated at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis at noon April 29. Dominican Father Joseph Gillespie will preside.
