Teenagers bid farewell to the Pope of their youth

May 09, 2025

By Matthieu Lasserre
Throughout the service, her face remained solemn, her emotions contained. Elisabeth Plouvier, 15, who followed the funeral with her group along Via della Conciliazione, admitted she felt “chills” at the start of the Mass. She was “moved” when the pope's closed coffin was carried to St. Peter’s Square. “It made my heart ache to know that the next time I come to Rome, it won’t be him speaking to us,” said the teenager, wearing a long skirt and purple sneakers. “I wanted to pray for him and the cardinals, asking God to help them choose the future pope.”

With the simultaneous Jubilee of Teenagers, which was expected to draw about 80,000 people, it was impossible to miss the crowd of young people, ages 13 to 18, along the long avenue lined with obelisk-shaped streetlights. Their presence, combined with the early wakeup call required to attend the funeral, gave the scene a World Youth Day vibe: a scramble to get into the Mass, young people asleep on the ground, sometimes wrapped in emergency blankets during the service, and T-shirts distinguishing them by their dioceses.

Grief and joy
Elisabeth, with her group from the Lisieux Pays d'Auge parish, wore navy blue sweatshirts printed with a quote from Blessed Carlo Acutis, who was set to be canonised on Sunday, April 27: “Never forget that you too can become saints.” She vividly remembers meeting the pope during a Rome-Assisi pilgrimage. “He took a picture with us and was happy to do it,” she recalled. “I’m very sad because I loved him a lot. But I’m happy to be here. I don’t quite know how to feel.” Kneeling or standing throughout the Mass, she was only occasionally distracted, responding to a companion or two.

Next to her, 13-year-old Aliénor Coste reflects on the pope, beloved by young people: “It’s a bit strange, it reminds me of Jesus who died and gave Himself for us.”

‘The only pope we’ve known”
Pope Francis’ attention to youth, demonstrated repeatedly during his 12-year papacy, was clearly heard by those it was aimed at. His consistent concern for the poor, migrants, and the “cry of the Earth” contributed significantly to his popularity among them.

Sitting with several friends o n steps between the olive trees lining the avenue, Thomas Belanger, a ninth-grader, recalls his experience of the Lisbon World Youth Day (Portugal), which he followed on TV, too young to attend. He had already noticed the simplicity and closeness that the Argentine pope displayed toward the younger generations of Catholics. “His humility struck me; he even gave up the luxury of the Vatican apartments,” he said, admiringly.

Grégoire Brunet, 17, wearing a creamcolored cap to protect himself from the sun beating down on the Vatican, compares the pope’s funeral to those he has experienced in his own family. “It’s totally different because of the crowd,” he says, turning his head toward the avenue filled with people. “But the fervour makes me feel something powerful.” Most young French pilgrims express similar feelings of being overwhelmed by the scale of the event.

“We’ll be able to tell our children about this later,” added Grégoire Brunet. “It’s even stronger because we grew up with him. He’s the only pope we really knew.” In his view, “From Heaven, he must be very happy” to see young people coming to Rome for their Jubilee, despite his death. --LCI (https://international.lacroix. com/)