When her group of friends were discussing the canonization of Carlo Acutis via text, April Bechtold said something “just stirred inside me’ and she discerned through prayer about making her eighth visit to Rome.
“I asked, ‘Lord, is this something you want me to do?’ and there was a real peace and openness [that came over me],” said Bechtold, a member of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Bowlus.
As she continued to discern the potential of going to the canonization, she thought of her nephew, Bennet Kroll, as well as friends Angel, Ben and David Statz.
After making the decision to go and booking travel arrangements, Bechtold realized God had different plans in mind.
She set her alarm to wake up early Easter Monday to embark on the trip and, as she prepared to leave for the airport, she received the unexpected news about Pope Francis’ death.
“I had a message in my inbox. It said, ‘Pope Francis dead at 88,’” Bechtold said. “We were all surprised he died and thought, ‘Well, we’re going [to Rome], but what does this mean?’”
The death of the pope created a shift in their plans and required “hard decisions” be made — stick with their originally-scheduled tours or participate in events honoring the late pope.
On Wednesday afternoon, instead of their scheduled tour through the Holy Door for the Jubilee Year, they waited in line for three hours to process past Pope Francis’ body.
“I wish we had pictures of the experience, but they had pretty heavy security,” Bechtold said. “[Once you enter the door], you could just process by. You can’t take pictures, you can’t stop. We prayed inside a little bit and then we had to leave.”
Saturday, the day of Pope Francis’ funeral, Bechtold and Kroll skipped their plans to visit the Colosseum and settled next to a jumbotron “a good distance” from St. Peter’s Square in the early morning.
As they waited for the 10 a.m. funeral, the bustle of the day occurred around them.
“You could see drones flying in the air and helicopters. There was a lot of activity leading up to it — possibly heads of state who were flying in and got special flights,” Bechtold said. “It was very exciting. Everything was happening around us, and it felt like you’re in the midst of history.”
Part of the experience included news stations and reporters milling about the area.
“There were probably hundreds of news stations and reporters there set up with their mics and camera crews asking people if they wanted to be interviewed,” Bechtold said. “David [Statz] and I were interviewed a number of times.”
During the funeral, images were on the jumbotron and they could hear what was happening, but without words, it was difficult to follow along.
“At times, it felt more like I was a spectator at the Mass, since it was in a different language,” Kroll said. “But we were able to participate in the Eucharist.”
Bechtold added, “We were giving the Sign of Peace and I noticed some movement. A procession of priests was coming from behind us and they all had a ciborium [container for hosts]. They just kept coming and coming until a young African priest stopped in front of us. It was such a peaceful thing. Everyone was so reverent.”
The large groups of people speaking different languages and their visits to 10 churches during their trip, reminded them of the vastness and universality of the Church and provided hope for the future.
“There was a sense of sadness, but also there was a feeling of hope,” Bechtold said. “We’re in the Easter season and the whole point of Christianity is that someday we will go to be with our God. There was a mix [of emotions] going on inside me.”
Hope remains
That mixture of emotions followed Bechtold back home.
As the conclave to elect the new pope began, she recalled that sense of hope while waiting for the new Holy Father.
Kroll has hope God will allow him to return to Rome, a city he now loves, and Bechtold holds hope for the Church.
“God had someone very specific in mind for the papacy,” she said. “We don’t need a repeat of any of our popes, the Holy Spirit has set aside [Pope Leo XIV] for this time, for now, to meet the needs of today’s Church.
“I hope that through his papacy, all will encounter Jesus and his love.”