Annette Walker watched the movie “Conclave” on her flight to Rome to witness — you guessed it — the real conclave.
She and her husband, Chuck, both lifelong Catholics living in Orange County, booked tickets to Rome the day Pope Francis died, Monday, April 21.
“I woke up at three in the morning that day and read that he had passed away,” said Walker, president of City of Hope Orange County. “By the time Chuck woke up at seven, I said, ‘We have to go to the conclave.’”
They arrived at the Vatican City on May 2 — one day before their 45th wedding anniversary — and planned to stay the week, hopeful a new pope would be selected during that time. He was.
A palpable energy pulsated around the Vatican City during the two days of voting to elect Pope Leo XIV on May 8, they said.
“We waited that first night a pretty long time before the black smoke came up,” Annette Walker said Friday morning in a phone call. “I can’t even tell you the chills it sends through your body thinking about the history that we were witnessing — even before the white smoke.”
A two-thirds majority vote among the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel is needed to elect a new head of the Catholic Church. After each round of voting ended in indecision, the college released black smoke through a chimney on the chapel’s roof.
It took four rounds of ballots for the cardinals to elect Pope Leo XIV, originally Robert Francis Prevost of Illinois — white smoke sent up the chimney to announce the decision to the crowds waiting in the square outside. Leo is the first American pope, and also a citizen of Peru, where he had served, including as a bishop, for many years.
“I was just shocked,” Annette Walker said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for people to see America in a different light.”
Amid the crowd of about 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square on May 8, Chuck Walker recalls hearing chants of “USA! USA!” once Prevost was announced as Pope Leo XIV.
“There were 70,000 people cheering, clapping, singing and dancing when we saw the white smoke,” he said.
“And all the bells of St. Peter’s started ringing,” Annette Walker said. “Bells all over the city, and Italians came out en masse from everywhere in the hour between the white smoke appearing and Pope Leo XIV coming to the balcony.”
“It’s something that we never thought we would see, an American as pope,” Chuck Walker added.
Taking in the event while leaning against Lorenzo Bernini’s massive Tuscan colonnades, built in the 17th century, compounded the emotions the Walkers felt about the moment’s historical significance.
“One thing I love about being Catholic is the continuity of the faith,” Annette Walker said. “And, being here in Rome, being part of something that’s thousands of years old, and seeing a list of every pope since St. Peter — you see this continuous chain, and you just know you’re part of something much bigger than yourself.”
“If I can add to that,” Chuck Walker said, “You hear a lot about the church dying or all these different beliefs in the church. But, when you come to an event like this and you see the excitement of the people, you feel that the church is alive and there’s excitement and there’s room for everybody.”
“It’s something that we always will remember and treasure and feel so blessed that we were able to be here for this moment in time,” Annette Walker said.
When she returns to Orange County this weekend and resumes her duties as president of City of Hope OC, she’ll be thinking about the leadership lessons she learned from the pilgrimage, she said.
“I’ve been thinking a lot, particularly about the succession of the pope and how leaders in the world should behave no matter what they lead,” she said. “You’re not the boss because you can make all the decisions. But you’re the steward of something bigger than yourself, and you’re the steward of the mission, no matter where you work or who you work for. The pope is the finest example of being a steward.”
“That’s a message that translates down to each one of us in one way or another.”