Michelle Samartino | The Michigan Catholic

Gift pilgrimage to Rome puts Livonia pair front and center for Pope Francis’ election

LIVONIA — It was the hand of God that led Jim and Louise Allan, members of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Redford Township, to be in Rome the week the new pope was announced.

A canceled trip, a snowstorm and nearly five hours of waiting in the cold and rain could not keep the Allans from being in St. Peter’s Square at the moment the white smoke billowed out of the chimney of the Sistene Chapel.

“So many things had happened,” said Jim, whose children and son-in-law had given them their pilgrimage to Rome as a mutual 60th birthday gift last year. Their son, Jeff, is a seminarian at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.

When the new pope was announced March 13, Jim said, “we had walked for seven hours prior. It was so cold and wet, through the cobblestone streets, and we didn’t know if we should go (to the Square) or come back.”

“My wife said, ‘Let’s just go,’ and the white smoke didn’t come out until five hours later. You could feel the strength of the Spirit just from being there.”

Louise agreed. “I just looked out at the whole Square as we were walking and thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is such a blessing,’ and we have had so many blessings. This was the top of the blessings. It was just overwhelming.”

Initially, their pilgrimage to Rome was supposed to take place last November, but not enough people had signed up for the trip, and it was subsequently canceled. Although disappointed, they were able to make arrangements with another Catholic tour company for the week of March 11-17.

“The rest is history,” said their son, Jeff.

The week before the trip, Jim recalled waking up one morning to hear the pope had resigned. “I joked with my wife and said, ‘By the way, guess what happened? I told her and she didn’t believe me until she heard Matt Lauer (from the Today Show). So we arrived on Monday and then it happened Wednesday night. That’s all it takes!”

Their plane took them from Detroit to New York to Frankfurt, but because of a snowstorm, five of the 12 in the group didn’t make it that far. Once in Rome, on the day of the announcement of the new pope, only two from that group were in the Square — Jim and Louise.

At that very moment, “It was a time for thought and prayer,” recalled Jim. “We had our binoculars, but we were taking in the moment of the anticipation after the smoke and bells … who was it going to be?

“There were so many people of different languages, but we were all of strength and prayer. And the thoughtfulness of the Italian priests and seminarians, and of the lay people speaking French and Italian … everyone was on the same page with the Spirit.”

The crowd was enormous, Jim said, “but we felt so safe. You didn’t know who was next to you, but there were old and young, and everyone was respectful and we felt so at peace. Yet it was not a mob; we were all God’s people.”

Louise said the rain and cold were no longer factors of discomfort. “It was from the anticipation of when it was going to happen,” she said. “We didn’t want to miss it for the world and everyone around us felt the same way.

“We were all huddled together even though we were sopping wet, from the knee down including our shoes. You could see it on our pants how wet we were. But when we were in the Square waiting for the pope to open the doors, we were warm. We were not cold anymore. It was the strangest feeling, a wonderful feeling that this can’t be real, yet it was and we were all so happy!”

Jim said the name of Francis seems fitting. “This is a man who has already exhibited basic humbleness, faith, prayer and a simple true life.

“He is out in the streets driving the security crazy right now,” he said and laughed. “But he is a voice of God in the streets of Rome reaching out and doing God’s work and being led by the Holy Spirit.”

Thinking about it now continues to bring tears to Louise. “We were crying because we felt like we were meant to be there at that time and that we had to bring back the message for our family and let them know what we experienced.”

Their son Jeff, a member of St. Colette Parish in Livonia, said he believes it was all meant to be. “I believe their whole experience was not only a blessing in disguise, but that there was God’s hand in all of this (and thus Divine Providence) with them being there.”