Ruth Sherlock
speaker
937 appearances
123 recordings
4 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard 1 Jul
Ruth Sherlock’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Up First from NPR · Scene From Vatican City, Life Of Pope Leo XIV, China Trade Talks · 9 May 2025
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So lots of optimism about what this Pope might be able to achieve. Lots of expectations. It's a very difficult time in the world. And Pope Francis spoke repeatedly about human suffering in conflict, about poverty, and many people hoping he'll continue that legacy. And Pierre's Ruth Sherlock. Thank you, Ruth. Thanks so much, Leila.
The first vote, just hours after the start of the conclave, was always unlikely to result in a papal election. But nonetheless, crowds of thousands stood in St. Peter's Square, keeping their eyes trained on that small chimney, the cardinal's only way of signalling to the outside world if they've chosen a new pope.
Many priests and nuns were among the crowd, praying that the cardinals will hear the Holy Spirit to discern God's will about who should become Pope. There was laughter too, as a seagull landed near the chimney, settling in for a front row seat. The sky grew dark, and then black smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, St Peter's Square, the Vatican.
The Vatican's official media says the Popemobile that Pope Francis used during his 2014 visit to the Holy Land is being outfitted with diagnostic and emergency medical equipment to help young patients in Gaza. Health services have been decimated during Israel's war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave. The Popemobile will carry things like suture kits and vaccines and be run by medical staff.
The Catholic aid organisation Caritas Jerusalem, which leads the initiative, has to navigate restrictions on access to Gaza. but ultimately plans to deploy the clinic to communities that now survive without health facilities. Pope Francis called the Holy Family Church in Gaza almost every day throughout the war, including from his hospital bed, as he was critically ill with double pneumonia.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome.
Well, Lauren, there are people who traveled all night to be at this funeral. There was, for example, Antonella Marcuz, who took a bus from Austria to arrive at dawn in Rome. This means so much to her, and you can hear the emotion in her voice.
She's crying, and, you know, she talks about how much Pope Francis meant, like you mentioned, for bringing different faiths together. And you have stories like this all over the square. I spoke with Bishop Thomas Masters, who was in the crowd dressed in his bright purple bishop robes, and I asked him why he chose to make this long trip from Florida to be here.
St. Peter's Square is surrounded by these semi-circles of colonnades with statues of Catholic saints all around. And that threw open to this bright blue sky, and many people in the crowd told me they felt as though Pope Francis might be looking down on this event from above.
Well, of course, there were crowds of people outside this church that were so dear to Francis. You know, this basilica is home to an icon, a painting of Mother Mary and baby Jesus that Francis would pray to before and after every trip out of Rome. And one of the priorities of his papacy was Francis' care for the poor and the disadvantaged.
And he was known, for example, to slip out of the Vatican to visit homeless shelters nearby there. And this was also the final focus of this funeral, too. a group of people from disadvantaged backgrounds were invited to be by the entrance of St Mary Major. People without homes, migrants, prisoners, victims of war.
It was a fitting end that these people should be the final people to say goodbye to this Pope.
Well, people are waiting in their long, snaking line around the Vatican. Some are holding umbrellas to shield from the sun as they wait to pay their final respects to Pope Francis as he lies in state. I spoke with Margarita Harvey from El Salvador, who has been waiting since a little after dawn, and she says it was always her dream to see the Pope.
Francis is lying in a single wooden casket rather than the three nested coffins that's been traditional of previous pope burials. And the coffin at St. Peter's Basilica is facing the church pews at ground level, not raised up. And this is typical of his papacy, of trying to keep a little of the ordinary even in this very extraordinary job.
Francis liked people, and you can see that in how he moved through the crowds in this very square this past Easter Sunday, just the day before he died. He was in his potent mobile without the bulletproof glass, hugging members of the public. The Vatican now says Francis was so weak that he'd actually worried about whether he could manage this.
But afterwards, he reportedly told his personal health care assistant, thank you for bringing me back to the square.
That's right. You know, this has the potential to be an important political moment, too. There may be some sensitive meetings that could happen on the sidelines. President Trump has confirmed he will attend, as will the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, which sets up the potential for them to meet for the first time since those tense public exchanges at the White House in March.
This is going to be Trump's first foreign trip of his second term and the first time he's in the same space as other key leaders like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for example. Since the first time since he announced those controversial tariffs, the Italian government says over 100 foreign delegations are coming and that, like you said, some 200,000 people may attend.
Exactly. Well, popes are traditionally buried here in the Vatican grottos beneath St. Peter's Basilica, but Francis has chosen to be laid to rest outside the Vatican at the church in an immigrant area of Rome, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he'd go to pray to the icon of the Virgin Mary before and after each trip out of Rome.
I spoke with Ruben Martinez, a Spanish priest who'd arrived there to pay his respects to Francis. He's saying, you know, another journalist asked me if this is a sad moment. And I told him, no, this is a moment of hope. We're Christians, he told me. This is about Pope Francis' ascent to heaven.
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