Tony Aiello reflects on his years covering Pope Francis after the leader's death
As the world learned of
Pope Francis' death early
Monday, CBS News New York's Tony Aiello called it a sad morning, but perhaps one we anticipated facing after the pope spent
more than 30 days in the hospital
.
"As a Catholic, it's obviously very sad. We pray with and for the Holy Father Sundays at mass," Aiello said.
He also reflected on his
past 12 years covering the pope
, and where it all began.
"I was at St. Peter's Square in 2013 when he was elected, so I've taken a special interest in his papacy, because it was one of the highlights of my long reporting career to have been at St. Peter's Square when he came out to the balcony in March of 2013 and greeted people with those simple words of, 'Brothers and sisters, buona sera, good evening.' It was such a charming start to his papacy, and I've been honored to have covered many of the events of his papacy over the last 12 years," said Aiello.
Aiello said it was "tremendously significant" that Pope Francis came out to
greet the faithful on his final day, Easter Sunday
.
"This is a pope who, he literally talked about he wants his bishops to smell like the sheep, which is a very colorful way of saying be with the people," he said. "The bishops are the shepherds, that's why the mitre that they carry is hooked like a shepherd would carry. We see Cardinal Dolan processing with that hooked staff all the time. The cardinals and the bishops are the shepherds, and we the people of the church are the sheep. And Pope Francis said he wanted his bishops to smell like the sheep, meaning he wanted bishops who were out among the people, who were with the people, who were close to the people."
Pope Francis is
remembered as the people's pope
, who championed themes of
compassion and humility while leading by example
.
"We've all been working on stories about the pope, his legacy and his papacy, and I think there's no doubt that he set the tone from the very start by choosing that name, Francis. St. Francis of Assisi, a saint of the poor, a saint who was born a rich man and literally gave away everything he owned to spread the faith, to bring people to Jesus and Jesus to the people. And I think that Pope Francis truly modeled that over the course of his time as pope," Aiello said.
"We've had any number of humble popes over the years, but Francis certainly modeled it in a way that we haven't seen in some time. Pope Benedict, his predecessor, loved the elaborate pomp and circumstance of the church, which many people find very, very valuable and uplifting. This pope, wouldn't wear the red shoes that over popes wore.
"As a matter of fact, Sept. 25 of last year, my wife and I were with a group of friends in Rome and we were fortunate enough to get tickets for the papal audience that day, and we sat very close to where the pope led the general audience in St. Peter's Square, and then the pope in his wheelchair was brought around to meet people, and waited and we met him, we shook his hand, I said a few words and I looked down and I saw his shoes, and his shoes were at least 15 years old and part of it was held together with black electrical tape.
"I mean, this man just did not like to spend money on himself. Many of us will remember that from the very start he said he would not live in the papal apartment, he lived instead in Casa Santa Marta, which is basically the Vatican guest house, because he wanted to be with the people of the Vatican and the high-level visitors to the Vatican. So this is definitely something that he modeled over the course of his papacy."
The church enters a period called the "Sede Vacante," meaning empty seat.
"They take this very seriously," Aiello explained. "The Vatican Post Office will actually publish new stamps that say 'Sede Vacante, April 2025' on the stamps."
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, an Irish cardinal, is what's called the camerlengo, basically the chamberlain who will temporarily administer the Vatican, run the administration and the finances.
The plan is for the pope's body to be placed in St. Peter's for public viewing.
"He will be inside of a coffin, instead of on the raised platform that we saw in 2023 when Pope Benedict was displayed prior to his funeral," said Aiello.
Pope Francis'
funeral is scheduled to take place
between four and six days after his death, so before the week is over. Then, there will be nine days of mourning and special masses and then, all the cardinals from around the world will
gather in Rome for the conclave to elect the new pope
.
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