Diocesan seminarian among those who served the funeral Mass of Pope Francis

By Maria Young | The Catholic Free Press

On the day Worcester diocesan seminarian Christopher Tillotson flew to Lithuania for a week-long break from seminary, he wasn’t also expecting to hear the news of the death of Pope Francis. Ultimately, he took a flight back early to Rome to serve the late pontiff’s funeral.  

Mr. Tillotson, who’s home parish is St. Joseph in North Brookfield, has been studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome since June 2023. He had just seen the pope a day prior at St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter. It was Pope Francis’ final public appearance just hours before his death on April 21.

Seminarians were given a break from their studies following the Holy Week Triduum. Many take the opportunity to travel, and Mr. Tillotson had decided to go to Lithuania to visit a friend and see some relatives he had never met, leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday which has strong ties to the country. His original flight home was to be on Saturday, just in time for him to serve the canonization Mass of Blessed Carlo Acutis that was scheduled for April 27. The canonization was subsequently postponed due to the passing of Pope Francis.  

Instead, Mr. Tillotson said he was able to get a cheap flight back to Rome on Thursday. This gave him time to participate in the visitation of the pope’s mortal remains on Friday and serve the papal funeral that was held the following day on April 26.  

He was asked by the seminary to serve the Mass, and said it meant a lot to be there.  
In some ways, which seminarians are chosen to serve Masses is similar to a random lottery, Mr. Tillotson said. Because he was already scheduled to serve the canonization Mass, St. Peter’s asked the Pontifical North American College if these seminarians could pivot and serve the papal funeral Mass instead.

Mr. Tillotson said it is not uncommon for seminarians from PNAC to serve, in part because of the college’s physical proximity to the Vatican.

Mr. Tillotson said, “The real astounding thing was the Mass started at 10 a.m., we got there at 7 a.m. The entire basilica was empty – no chairs, no people.” He and the friends he was with were allowed to pray by themselves in front of Pope Francis’ coffin for about ten minutes. “It was deeply moving to be some of the last people to pray before his coffin,” he said.

During the Mass, Mr. Tillotson was an acolyte and distributed holy Communion. He said about 200 seminarians were asked to distribute just in St. Peter’s Square. He guesses about 100 more were near the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere on the other side of the Tiber River. There was an estimated 250,000 people in attendance at Pope Francis’ funeral and millions more watched on TV or online around the world.

The end of a papacy and, indeed, the funeral of a pontiff is a significant historical event not just for Catholics, but the whole world. People from different economic, political, and religious backgrounds attended the service or were captivated by the occasion. From presidents and royalty to the homeless, all were welcomed to pay respects and give thanks to God for the life of Pope Francis.  

 Mr. Tillotson said he saw former U.S. president Joe Biden and former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and that President Donald Trump had already left when he saw the others.
Acknowledging the significance of the event and mentioning St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI as “prime examples of great men that led the Church” like Pope Francis, Mr. Tillotson said that the funeral Mass “captivated the whole world, so to be there at that place and that time, it made the papacy and it made Pope Francis make a lot of sense in the mission of the Church.”

“The pope is a figure of Christian unity and also the moral authority and someone who .. is like a spokesman, in some way, for the good works that the Church is undertaking ... The world still recognizes that here there is a spiritual leader [and that] there is a communal striving toward peace and the mission of Christ,” Mr. Tillotson said. “I am so grateful to see [everyone] rallying around him.”

Mr. Tillotson recalled the end of the funeral Mass. He said, “pallbearers were retrieving the coffin to bring it back into St. Peter’s and they tipped the coffin ever so slightly to see the cross and Pope Francis’ seal on the coffin. The people really erupted and were cheering at that moment.” He said at the same time, he thought it was significant that the Magnificat – the canticle of Mary – was being sung. “This wasn’t just the end of a pontificate,” he said, “it was the end of a whole human life and story,” at least in this world.  

Pope Francis had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary and his last testament was a request to be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.  

The end of one papacy also marks a time of change as the Church experiences a vacant papal see and the College of Cardinals prepare for a conclave that will elect Pope Francis’ successor.  

Mr. Tillotson said that he is grateful for the work the cardinals are doing. Some are staying at PNAC during this time. He said people often only see them from afar and know about them impersonally, but he was struck by the humanity of these men. He recalled seeing some in prayer at St. Peter’s.  

“When they are kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament, praying, and doing what you are doing, you see they are Catholics, they are people too. You know they are praying for the conclave and that they want to be guided by the Holy Spirit.”  

There is excitement in the uncertainty of a conclave, he said. “We are on white smoke watch. ... Everyone assumes it won’t happen the first day, so we are going to be watching and the rule is, if that white smoke comes out, you drop everything and get yourself to [St. Peter’s] Square.”  

PNAC is only 0.6 miles from St. Peter’s Basilica and the college has a roof that looks out on the square. Mr. Tillotson said you can’t quite see the roof of the Sistine Chapel where the smoke comes out, but he would be able to hear an eruption of clapping if he was on campus when it happened.