A nun who broke Vatican protocol when she approached Pope Francis’ casket to say goodbye earlier this week is sharing how she will remember the late pontiff.
Sister Geneviève Jeanningros was interviewed by Noticias Telemundo at the Vatican on Friday, April 25, the day before Francis’ funeral.
In a short Spanish language interview, the nun said that Francis was “a brother, a pope, [and] a friend.” Additionally, she shared that she paid her respects every day — not just when she made headlines — and planned on attending his funeral as well.
The funeral Mass, presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, began at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, April 26. Afterward, Francis’ coffin was transported to St. Mary Major, where he chose to be interred, marking a break with precedent and becoming the first pope in over 100 years not to be buried at St. Peter’s.
Before a private burial, his coffin was “welcomed by ‘the last ones,’ a group of poor and marginalized people who always had a special place in Pope Francis’ heart,” according to the Vatican.
Dozens of world leaders — as well as a dozen monarchs and 55 heads of state — were in attendance, including Prince William, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
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Sister Geneviève touched hearts around the world when she was seen at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Wednesday, April 23, the first day members of the public were welcomed to pay their respects. That day, she entered an area generally reserved for cardinals, priests and bishops to pay her respects, according to Agence France-Presse(AFP).
According to footage shared on social media, the nun was seen approaching a rope surrounding Francis’s coffin with help from an official, the Telegraph reported.
NBC News reported that when she began to weep, nobody stopped her and she was allowed a moment to grieve.
The nun and the late pontiff met in 2005 when she traveled from Rome to Buenos Aires for her aunt Leonie Duquet’s burial, according to the AFP, which reported that her aunt was also a nun.
Francis, then just Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, gave approval for the re-burial of Duquet, who died in the mid-1970s during the country’s dictatorship, the news agency reported.
Last July, Francis traveled to Ostia, a Roman neighborhood, to meet Genevieve, known for her work with the local LGBTQ+ community, Reuters reported.
The nun visited Francis every week and brought a group of LGBTQ+ community members with her, after he resumed receiving public audiences following the COVID pandemic. “I always wrote to him a little message to tell him who was coming,” she said, according to the AFP.
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