LI priest remembers night Francis became pope

The Rev. Jerry DiSpigno, a Catholic priest from Long Island, was a front-row witness the night in 2013 that a priest from Argentina became Pope Francis.

He was close enough to see Francis adjust his glasses from a second-floor balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica as he bowed to ask the crowd to pray for him.

DiSpigno was in Rome on a sabbatical and had arrived early. Few people were there because it was raining. And few were expecting a pope to be elected that day, since it was only the second day of cardinals voting in the conclave.

When white smoke indicating a new pope had been chosen suddenly emerged from the Sistine Chapel, DiSpigno ran to the front of St. Peter’s Basilica. There were only about 30 people in front of him, he said. Soon the square filled with at least 200,000 people as they waited about an hour for the new pope to be revealed and to appear.

When he did, “I could see everything. I saw his face. I saw his expressions. He was so close,” DiSpigno said.

Like many people, DiSpigno had never heard of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but a priest from Chile who was standing next to him knew all about him and gave DiSpigno a quick biography in English.

“It was such a momentous occasion in my whole life to be able to witness a pope” being elected,” DiSpigno said Monday. “There's a great sadness because I was there.”