In the solemn silence enveloping St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, where cardinals, bishops, and senior religious figures gathered to bid farewell to the late pope, a woman walked steadily and calmly towards the adorned coffin, arousing the astonishment of those present who did not recognize her at first, but she quickly became the focus of their whispers and questions.
This woman was none other than the French-Argentinian nun Geneviève Gianngros, a close friend of Pope Francis, who was exclusively allowed to bypass the strict Vatican protocols to have a personal farewell glance at the body.
Geneviève carried a green bag on her back, her eyes glistening with tears. When she reached the coffin, she paused for longer than usual, passing a piece of paper over her face to dry her tears in an intimate and poignant moment.
A protocol member silently escorted her to the nearest point to the coffin, a rare exception to the protocols that usually limit the initial farewells to high-ranking religious figures, whether local or foreign.
But the special bond she shared with the late pope made this exception possible.
Argentinian and European media later revealed that this nun was not just a friend, but a witness to the beginnings of Francis' journey when he was still Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The widely circulated Argentinian newspaper "Clarín" described her insistence on bidding him farewell as a "deep desire to honor an old friend," while the Spanish newspaper "El País" quoted a source saying their relationship dates back decades, specifically to a time when the pope was a young man working in a chemistry lab.
What makes the scene more impactful is that Geneviève is the niece of the French nun Leonie Duquet, who disappeared in 1977 during the dictatorship in Argentina, and her body was later found in a mass grave alongside the remains of Esther Ballestrino, the woman who was the head of the lab where Francis worked.
This tragic background carries human and spiritual dimensions that explain the deep connection between the nun and the pope, making the farewell moment more than just a final meeting, but an evocation of a long history of pain, faith, and resistance.
As the media continued to capture images of the sad farewell, Geneviève left the church silently as she entered, leaving behind an exceptional story of friendship and loyalty, of a woman who surpassed protocols not for attention but to honor a man who always believed in people and embraced the marginalized.