Pope Francis died on 21 April 2025, drawing hundreds of thousands to Rome under heavy security and strict media controls. During the lying-in-state, accredited photographers were positioned at a distance. To photograph the moment more closely, I joined the public queue with my mother. At around 1:30 a.m., a gendarme briefly stopped us directly in front of the Pope’s body before moving us on. The funeral and the election of Pope Leo XIV unfolded under global attention.
