‘It was unbelievable’: Marquette students meet Pope Leo on once in a lifetime trip to Rome

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - Nick Gross is your everyday Marquette University sophomore student, he’s a journalism major with a minor in political science and is a member of the Marquette Knights of Columbus.

Over winter break, Gross and some students in the chapter traveled to Rome for a trip led by Father Michael Maher.

“I was expecting to see the Vatican, the Pantheon, all the major churches there,” Gross said. “The main thing I had outside everything else from the get-go was, I want to see the Pope.”

Maher has been leading trips with students to Rome for around 25 years.

“I lived in Rome for about 12 years and so it’s a great pleasure for me to share something that I love, both the city of Rome and the catholic church with students,” Maher said.

Maher spent time with Pope John Paul II while he lived in Rome and uses what he learned in the 12 years spent in the city to guide the students on the trips.

“The whole way to lead a trip successfully is you should be like a clear camera lens, you focus but you don’t get in the way,” Maher said.

With high expectations going into the trip, Maher did just that, and the students ended up in the front row at the Pope’s general audience, which was moved inside due to rain.

“Somehow we got some strings pulled and we’re able to get in there and had the tickets,” Gross said. “It was like the biggest surprise; it was like waking up to a Christmas gift on Christmas morning.”

After Pope Leo blessed the couples in attendance, he made his way down the aisle, as Gross and his classmates stood in anticipation.

“He’s coming down the aisle, it’s dramatic, my heart was racing because how many people really get to see the pope, it’s a privilege that I was able to do that,” Gross said.

The students were holding a Marquette flag and started to attempt to get the Pope’s attention.

“He was going side to side, and he didn’t have to stop by us, he did, he shook my hand and a couple other guys' hands in the group, and he said Go Marquette and gave us a thumbs up, it was unbelievable,” Gross said.

A moment where time stopped for Gross, as he shook hands with the Pope.

“It was just, it was unreal,” Gross said. “It was absolutely unreal and it takes me back to that moment, I was just starstruck I couldn’t even believe it.”

Despite lasting just a couple seconds, it’s a memory that will last a lifetime for Gross and add to the list of memories for Father Maher.

“One of the things I would say is, what is the purpose of an education, and an education is to understand what is beautiful and acquire the skills to duplicate it,” Maher said.

It’s a moment in time that makes Gross anything but your everyday student, now with a memory of a lifetime.

“Doing all of the things that we do here on campus together and then being able to have that experience, they say you’re good friends with somebody, you’re okay friends with somebody when you know them here, but when you meet the Pope with somebody then you’re friends for life,” Gross said.