A gift from Pope Francis leads to a journey of hope for a family

Elisabeth and Scott Williams smile in complete joy as they meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on Aug. 3, 2016. Married on May 28 in that year, the couple later traveled to Rome after they learned about the long-standing tradition of popes offering a blessing to newlyweds. (Photo courtesy of L’Osservatore Romano)

By John Shaughnessy

On the morning that Scott and Elisabeth Williams planned to fly to Rome with their two small children, they woke up to the shocking news about the death of Pope Francis—the pontiff who had blessed their marriage and shared a rare wedding gift with them nine years ago.

Their original plan was to be in Rome for the April 27 canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old Italian youth known for his dedication to the Eucharist who died of cancer in 2006.

“We had just seen Pope Francis [on TV] riding around in the popemobile the day before, celebrating Easter,” Scott recalls. “We’re thinking, ‘he’s feeling better, and maybe we’ll see him for the canonization.’ And then we’re shocked to learn he had passed. And then we’re trying to figure out our travel plans. Do we go? Is the canonization going to happen?

“We quickly realized that either way, this is going to be an amazing pilgrimage and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

After they settled into their plane seats with 6-year-old Dominic and 4-year-old Hannah, the couple thought of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they already had with Pope Francis—in the summer of 2016.

The rare gift and their meeting with Pope Francis connected with two long-standing traditions at the Vatican.

The first tradition holds that if a couple arrives for a Wednesday general audience with the pope within six months of their wedding and wears the clothes they were married in (or similar attire), they will be allowed to sit in a reserved section where they will receive a “blessing of newlyweds” from the Holy Father.

With Scott in a black tuxedo and Elisabeth in her wedding dress on that hot August day in 2016, the Indianapolis couple met with Pope Francis, talked with him and received a blessing. Even more astounding to them, they also left their meeting with the pontiff’s zucchetto, the white skullcap that a pope wears.

Scott had also learned that there’s another special papal tradition: If someone has the same size of zucchetto as the pope, the pope will make a trade. So, the couple had gone to Pope Francis’ personal tailor in Rome and bought a zucchetto of the same size. They were the only one of the 60 couples from around the world who arrived for the papal audience that day with a zucchetto. And when Scott offered him that one, Pope Francis tried it on and made the exchange.

It was an incredible moment in a wonderful week of adventures in Rome, a honeymoon moment that always leads to a smile for the couple, who are members of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis.

Nearly nine years later, that special connection to Pope Francis has continued through their married life, including the births of their children—Dominic, Hannah and Simon—and the heartbreaking loss of Simon.

‘A very beautiful and powerful moment’

After arriving in Rome, one of the first visits the Williams family made was to St. Peter’s Basilica on April 23, the first day of the public viewing of Pope Francis, who was 88 when he died.

“The last time we were there was to see him and get his blessing,” Scott says. “This time, it was really beautiful because we got to bring our kids back there. Part of it was also preparing them for what they were about to see and encounter.”

“We waited for three hours,” Elisabeth adds. “They move you through really quickly. We got to spend more time at the altar of St. Joseph, to pray with the kids and just sit there and collect our thoughts.”

Once again, their thoughts and prayers also turned to Simon, who died a few hours after his birth two years ago.

“One day during the pope’s hospitalization, I looked at the zucchetto that Pope Francis generously traded us in 2016,” Elisabeth recalls. “I was reflecting on all that had happened in our marriage—the business we started, the adventures in travel we’ve had, the sleepless nights, the joys and the hardships—ultimately the journey of hope that we are on in our family.

“We’ve welcomed children into our family and experienced the difficulty of giving one of those sons back to our Lord. That zucchetto is in our home, sitting under an image of our Lady holding our son Simon—an image we feel encompasses the few hours he was with us in February of 2023.”

The heartbreak remains. At the same time, so does the overall feeling that the couple has for their lives.

“The gratitude over the last nine years is really the feeling,” Elisabeth says.

That feeling extends to getting to share their respect for Pope Francis at St. Peter’s.

“There’s a deep sense of gratitude that we felt for him,” Scott says. “It was a very beautiful and powerful moment.”

That combination of respect, gratitude and joy also permeated the entire experience of hundreds of thousands of people honoring Pope Francis during his viewing, his funeral and his procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, his burial place, Scott says.

“Something that came up a lot in our conversations was that there was still a lot of joy in Rome,” he says. “Part of that was that there were a lot of young people in Rome for the canonization. Also, as Catholics, we celebrate the lives of people at funerals. We celebrate the lives they’ve lived. And it’s indeed a celebration.

“During the funeral procession, there still was energy there. There were still people lining the streets all along the processional route. The feeling was still gratitude and respect.”

‘Our family needed some hope’

Joy also marked the pilgrimage that the Williams’ family shared during their week in Italy.

“A pilgrimage across the world with young kids is a little daunting, but it surprised us in many ways,” Elisabeth says.

“Dominic is a 6-year-old kid, but he was teaching Hannah how to pray and reminding her how to do the sign of the cross on the chapel visits we had. It was neat to see him share those things in his silly ways. He would dance, pause and then pray. They really brought joy to the time. They did cartwheels in the street.”

While the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis was delayed because of Pope Francis’ funeral, the family still made the youth’s life a part of their trip by traveling to Assisi on April 27—Divine Mercy Sunday—to visit his tomb.

“There were many gelato trips and running through Assisi when we got to visit Blessed Carlo’s tomb,” Elisabeth says. “They couldn’t hold that joy in, even in those solemn moments.

“It was interesting too, because we learned about Blessed Carlo through Pope Francis. We really enjoyed his story and started naturally sharing it with Dominic. ‘You can be yourself, but you can also live out the sacraments and live that fully and joyfully.’ So, Dominic now has someone to look up to and intercede for him as well.”

Being in Rome also gave the couple the opportunity to share some of the Church’s rich history with their children.

“We got to see the pillar where Jesus was scourged, the crib where Jesus was born,” Scott says. “We read about these things in the Bible, but seeing these things puts another level of reality on them. It was really interesting to do these things with them. It will be really beautiful to be able to reflect back on that and remind them of what we encountered there.”

Elisabeth adds, “I’m not sure what they’ll remember, but those seeds have been planted.”

As for the couple, there’s the certainty that Pope Francis has influenced their marriage, their family and their lives, from the joy of meeting him and trading zucchettos nine years ago to being in Rome again for his viewing and funeral.

“Pope Francis has obviously had a significant impact on the blessing of our marriage,” Scott says. “We pray for the pope every time we go to Mass. Reflecting back on the years, even as we watched news coverage of the funeral preparations, he simplified parts of that funeral Mass to be more of a pastor. Looking back, Pope Francis had the heart of a pastor, the heart of a shepherd. And while we had limited interactions with him, I think we can feel that presence.”

Elisabeth believes that Pope Francis has also given their family and the family of the Church one more gift—dedicating this Jubilee year to hope and encouraging people to become pilgrims of hope. Another highlight of their pilgrimage to Italy included passing through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which is only open during a Jubilee year in the Church, which ordinarily happens every 25 years.

“Our family needed some hope after losing our son,” Elisabeth says. “It was really impactful to bring our kids back to Rome during this Year of Hope, walk through the Holy Door, and help them live that hope again.” †

 

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