A Villanova University student is in Rome, reporting on the preparations for the funeral of Pope Francis, writes Caroline Goggin for 6abc.
James Haupt, a communications major at Villanova, is in Italy for a semester as a Vatican intern.
Haupt said St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City is filled with crowds waiting to pay their respects to the Holy Father.
“It’s very packed right now, very hectic and very somber at the same time,” he explained.
Haupt is interning for “Rome Reports,” an online publication created by an international TV news agency based in Rome that covers the Vatican and the pope.
Haupt wrote a story about Pope Francis on Wednesday and is honored to be able to contribute to the news coverage.
“Of course, I want to be a part of history, especially as a journalist,” he said.
Villanova University Professor of Historical Theology Massimo Faggioli had a chance to share his thoughts on Pope Francis on MSNBC.
“With him, clearly, the Catholic Church is no longer purely a European enterprise, clearly no longer a colonial enterprise,” he said. “Catholicism is now much more made of African, Asian, Latin American Catholics than Europeans and North Americans.”
Read other reactions at 6abc and see additional observations from Professor Faggioli at MSNBC.
