A group of students from St. Patrick's Catholic High School in Sarnia will have a lasting memory to reflect upon after being among the last to see Pope Francis' final address before his passing on Easter Monday.
The group of 40 students (primarily from Grades 10 through 12) and five chaperones went to Italy last week and attended mass at St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday.
Trip Organizer and Visual Arts Teacher Roy Gouveia said it was an exciting day with "thousands upon thousands" of people in the square.
They arrived at 8:30 a.m. (Central Standard Time), and mass started at approximately 10:15 a.m.
"There was a visible excitement, not only with our crowd but throughout the entire crowd that was there. The minute he came out, the minute we figured out the Pope was going to be making that appearance, there was a visible change in the mood of the crowd just to be able to see the Pope and experience his presence in such a concrete way," Gouveia said. "Then to find out the next day that he was no longer with us... it's tough to put into words. It was quite a shock."
The group was in Pompeii, touring the archaeological site, when one of the students received a news notification about the pontiff's death.
"The kids were visibly shaken by it," Gouveia said.
He said it was a strange situation to be in, learning about the ruins of Pompeii and absorbing the sad news about Pope Francis.
"The kids were left sort of psychologically balancing the two at the same time," he said. "Little conversations were going on even while we were touring the ruins. I could hear little whispers and mutterings here and there, 'I can't believe he's gone.'"
Vice Principal Karoline Lobsinger said the group took a moment to recite a prayer while in Pompeii.
"Then we talked about what Pope Francis' mission was, which is being kind to others and making sure we're serving others and putting others before ourselves. I think as a school community, bringing that back to Sarnia would be the priority," said Lobsinger.
Understandably, the students also had a lot of questions about what happens next and how a new pope is chosen.
"We were trying to answer some of those questions, even at the mass because the kids were very aware of the fact that he had been ill," said Gouveia. "We were explaining the process of the conclave, for example, how a new pope is elected and who votes, and what happens with the white smoke and the black smoke... all of those little details. The kids were visibly engaged in that process."
Gouveia said the European trip was meant to focus on art and history, but being part of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board, they also planned to celebrate mass in Vatican City as the trip coincided with Easter. He said the trip was funded through a combination of fundraisers, donations, and personal payments.
The group from St. Pat's is currently in Greece and will return home on Friday.
The Argentine pope's funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning.
In Sarnia, municipal flags have been lowered to half-staff in memory of Pope Francis.