Pope Francis: Nun breaks protocol to say goodbye to her friend

A moving scene has emerged of a nun breaching strict Vatican protocol to approach the Pontiff’s coffin to pray and cry in silence. Watch the video.

A nun who knew Pope Francis for more than 40 years has been captured in a moving scene at the Vatican breaking strict protocol to approach the Pontiff’s coffin.

Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, an 81-year-old nun recognised for her tireless work with the marginalised in Rome, could be seen approaching the restricted area while cardinals and bishops bid farewell to the Pontiff one by one according to protocol.

Wearing a green backpack, Sister Jeanningros stopped at the side behind the cordon and prayed and cried for several minutes – some sources said up to 20 minutes

The Swiss Guards nor the gendarmes intervened in an acknowledgment of her special bond with Francis.

The relationship between Sister Geneviève and Francis is said to have begun when he was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Sister Genevieve Jeanningros prays in front of the body of late Pope Francis inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Picture: AP

Born in France, Geneviève is the niece of Léonie Duquet, a French nun kidnapped and murdered in 1977 during the military dictatorship in Argentina. Both were victims of a clandestine operation targeting members of the Santa Cruz church community, orchestrated by regime operative Alfredo Astiz.

The sister is from the order of the Little Sisters of Jesus and has dedicated more than 56 years to serving the most disadvantaged, especially transgender women and fairground workers in Ostia, a coastal area of the Lazio region.

She apparently lives in a caravan with another nun, Anna Amelia Giacchetto, among the community she assists.

Sister Genevieve Jeanningros, of the congregation of the Little Sisters of Jesus of Charles De Foucauld, with some poor people attending The General Audience of Wednesday led by Pope Francis in St Peter's Square on March 23, 2016. Picture: Grzegorz Galazka\Mondadori via Getty Images

Sister Jeanningros told Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that she often attended the Pope’s weekly audiences, sometimes bringing members of the LGBTQ+ community with her to meet him.

In July, Pope Francis personally visited Sister Jeanningros in Ostia, a Roman coastal suburb, to acknowledge her longstanding humanitarian work.

Their meeting, held at Luna Park fairground, underscored the Pope’s support for her outreach to the LGBTQ+ community and others facing social exclusion.

IS DAD IN HEAVEN? TEAR-JERKING VIDEO OF POPE RESURFACES

Heartbreaking footage has emerged of Pope Francis consoling a little Italian boy who sobbed as he asked the pontiff if his atheist father had gone to heaven.

The emotional 2018 video, which resurfaced after the pontiff’s death, showed his compassionate nature as he comforted the weeping child, named Emanuele, during a visit to St Paul of the Cross Parish on the outskirts of Rome.

The incredible moment occurred when the child took to the microphone during a question-and-answer session, which was a standard part of Pope Francis’s parish visits.

Footage of the Pope’s heartbreaking encounter with a boy named Emanuele has resurfaced. Picture: Getty Images

The young boy smiled at the Pope as he approached the microphone but then froze. “I can’t do it,” Emanuele said.

A papal aide encouraged the boy, but he kept saying, “I can’t.”

“Come, come to me, Emanuele,” Pope Francis said. “Come and whisper it in my ear.”

The papal aide helped the sobbing child onto the platform where he was embraced by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis hugs the weeping boy on stage during his visit to the parish church of San Paolo della Croce in 2018. Picture: AP

With their heads touching, the Pope and the boy spoke privately to each other before Emanuele returned to his seat.

After their exchange, Pope Francis asked the youngster if he could tell the crowd of their conversation.

The little boy asked Pope Francis if his father had gone to heaven, despite being an atheist. Picture: AP

Pope Francis then told the audience of children that Emanuele’s father, who was non-religious but had baptised his four children, had recently died.

The child, according to the pontiff, wanted to know if his dad would still be accepted in heaven given he was a good man.

Pope Francis shared his conversation with the boy after asking the child’s permission. Picture: Getty Images

“What a beautiful witness of a son who inherited the strength of his father, who had the courage to cry in front of all of us,” Francis said.

“If that man was able to make his children like that, then it’s true, he was a good man.”

When the Pope asked the crowd of kids whether they thought God would abandon his children when they are good, they all shouted back, “No!”

“There, Emanuele, that is the answer,” Pope Francis said.

“God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier as a believer to baptise your children than to baptise them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.”

Originally published as Pope Francis: Nun breaks protocol to say goodbye to her friend