Pope Francis Funeral

I would not have thought on Easter night, when I traveled to Italy for a few Serie A matches, that my entire calendar for the last seven days plus the next two would be turned upside down.

On the morning that all of Italy received the news of Pope Francis’ disappearance, I was walking through the streets of Parma looking for a cafe. At an intersection, I stopped next to two ladies who were discussing it in whispers. With a lump in my throat, I did a search on Google. I found the first news published in a few minutes. How sad! It was true, even though many people expected this, almost no one thought it would happen right after Easter.

Then, I walked around a bit more, browsing the internet. A heavy silence filled the small neighborhood I was walking through. I knew that the Parma – Juve match would be canceled, so I went to the front of the stadium. I had a coffee and waited to see what would happen. It didn’t take long for the official statement to come. All the events of Monday, April 21, 2025, postponed.

Anyway, I tried to rearrange my calendar. With the Friday and Saturday matches rescheduled too, I said I’d switch everything to tourist mode until new dates. Parma – Juve was played on Wednesday and I came back for it.

Thursday night, over a beer on the shores of Lake Garda, I said that I would be sorry, since all the matches I had to attend had been postponed, not to be able to make it to Rome. One, because Pope Francis was dear and likeable to me (and I’m not some monument of faith in the churches of the world) and two, because I know many photographers who would have moved mountains to get to his funeral and couldn’t.

So, on Friday morning I quickly sorted out the accreditation, got an accommodation 500 m from San Pietro, got on the first Frecciarossa and off I went.

In addition to the photos, from the top of the Vatican, I watched the grand ceremony with the camera down for minutes on end, just gaping and thinking about how much this man was able to move and change the world.