Alicante Residents Witness Historic Funeral of Pope Francis in Rome

As the eternal city awoke on one of its saddest days, a group of friends from Alicante also opened their eyes. Alejo Arias, his wife Sandra, and two other couples were among the more than 400,000 people who attended the historic funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

"This is an incredible crowd," Alejo remarked early in the morning as he walked through the streets of Rome. On their way, they encountered a significant security presence to ensure the smooth running of a funeral attended by leaders from around the world. Helicopters, drones, motorcycles, and Carabinieri cars accompanied the pilgrims heading on foot.

"Everything is closed off, only official cars are speeding through the main roads," Alejo noted on his way to St. Peter's Square. Security tightened as they approached the gate assigned to the faithful. Other entrances to the Vatican remained closed or restricted to accredited clergy, disabled persons, or official delegations.

This Alicante resident experienced the day with emotion. For him, it was an honour to attend this historic moment. "It was a beautiful mass, an event where faithful from around the world united in a single prayer," he stated emotionally after the mass. The ceremony began promptly at 10 a.m., with hymns filling the heart of the Vatican as hundreds of thousands of faithful were moved. "Rome is a crowd of people, there are religious figures, priests, laypeople, and notably, a significant presence of young people," Alejo explained.

The trip that Alejo and his wife, along with two other couples they know from participating in Catholic groups, was not what they expected. They had planned to travel to Rome on the last weekend of April to attend the canonization of Carlo Acutis, a young man who died at 15 and was to become the first millennial saint. However, the death of Pope Francis changed their plans—the ceremony has been postponed.

Before the trip, Alejo explained that as Catholics, they hoped to find "an act of communion with Christians from all over the world in a single moment, praying for the eternal rest of the Pope and asking God that the new successor of Peter in the Church does not take long." "We are going to see a Rome full of people, the confirmation that Pope Francis managed to be spoken well of by believers, atheists, or Muslims. He was a very open Pope to everyone and opened the doors of the Church," this faithful recognized.

Although the death of the Pontiff disrupted the plans of this group of friends, "the eternal city always offers an alternative," Alejo noted. Over the weekend, they shared with thousands of believers a historic event that they will forever hold in their memory.

"We are going to enjoy an incredible moment of Catholic camaraderie that is lately hard to come by," Alejo anticipated with excitement before boarding the plane. Reality exceeded all their expectations.