Navarrosa, who is currently writing his thesis on the pope’s 2016 encyclical 'Amoris Laetitia,' recalls meeting Francis in 2021 and says he had hoped to meet him again. “I’m not worried about the future of the church, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit,” he says.

Rome was already set to welcome more visitors than usual in 2025, given it’s the city’s quarter-century Jubilee Year, but after the passing of Pope Francis was announced at 9.45am on Easter Monday (April 21), even more people are expected to the city who will have travelled far to pay their respects.