Looking back 10 years after Pope Francis’s visit to Washington: Part three, the pope visits the Little Sisters of the Poor and Saint John Paul II Seminary
by Mark Zimmerman, Catholic Standard, Washington, DC
Pope’s surprise visit to the Little Sisters
Although the logistics for Pope Francis’s Sept. 22-24, 2015 visit to Washington had been planned for several months beforehand, the Little Sisters of the Poor found out on Sept. 23 that the pope would be paying a surprise visit to them that afternoon.
“It was closer to noon that we found out,” said Sister Constance Veit, communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor. “Our superior and myself had gone to the White House (for the papal welcome there), and she had been tipped off ahead of time by the nuncio, but she only knew for sure at the White House when he told her, ‘It’s a go.’ She had been sworn to secrecy by the nuncio, so she had told us nothing.”
In an interview before the 10th anniversary of the papal visit, Sister Constance recalled what happened next. “So on the way home, the streets were already closed around here. We were trying to figure out what we should do when we got home, to be ready. Some people from the advance team came.”
The reaction of the Little Sisters at their Jeanne Jugan Residence for the elderly poor in Washington “was very excited, but at the same time, it was a little mixed,” Sister Constance said.
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