A woman breaches Vatican barriers to catch a final glimpse of Pope Francis... Who is she?

In the solemn silence enveloping St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, where cardinals, bishops, and religious dignitaries gathered to bid farewell to the late pope, a woman walked with exceptional determination and calmness towards the adorned coffin, sparking the astonishment of those present who did not recognize her at first, but she quickly became the focus of their whispers and inquiries. This woman was none other than the French-Argentinian nun, Genevieve Gianangros, a close friend of Pope Francis, who was exclusively allowed to bypass the strict Vatican protocols to have a personal farewell moment with the deceased. Genevieve carried a green bag on her back, her eyes glistening with tears. Upon reaching 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. An official from the protocol quietly escorted her to the closest point to the coffin, in a rare exception to the protocols that usually limit initial farewells to high-ranking religious figures, whether local or foreign. It seems that the special bond she shared with the late pope allowed for this exception to be made. 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 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. Adding to the impact of the scene is the fact that Genevieve is the niece of the French nun Leonie Duquet, who disappeared in 1977 during the dictatorship in Argentina, and 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 invocation of a long history of pain, faith, and resistance. As media lenses continued to capture images of the somber farewell, Genevieve left the church silently as she entered, leaving behind an exceptional story of friendship and loyalty, of a woman who surpassed protocols not for the sake of attention, but as a tribute to a man who always believed in people and embraced the marginalized.