As Pope Benedict XVI was announced as the new Pontiff of the Catholic Church yesterday, University students studying abroad in Europe reflected upon their experiences of witnessing the mourning of the late Pope John Paul II.

Pope John Paul II passed away about two weeks ago, on Saturday, April 2. He was buried six days later, on Friday, April 8, in a crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Roman officials estimated that 5 million pilgrims visited the Vatican during those six days, according to a CNN.com article. Among those 5 million visitors were University students, including Sarah Endres, a junior in LAS.

Endres was in Athens, Greece, over spring break and returned to Rome the day after the Pope passed away. She immediately went to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, where the Pope’s body resided inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

“There weren’t as many people as I would’ve expected,” Endres said in an e-mail. “But every statue in the square had memorials set up with candles, flowers and notes from children and other people in all different languages.”

Endres described the scene as beautiful and said the crowd was reverent, but not somber.

“The mood in the line was very hushed and respectful,” Endres said. “There were prayers being played over the loud speakers, and big TVs were set up showing the inside of the Basilica.”

Endres and her friends tried to go to the visitation of the Pope but the line to see his body got progressively longer as the week went on. Endres went Tuesday morning at 6 a.m., but only waited in line two hours. By that afternoon, however, Endres said she knew people who had been waiting in line for up to 12 hours.

She also said the crowd waiting was very mixed, made up of people of all nationalities and backgrounds.

“Nuns praying the rosary in different languages, tourists and pilgrims from different countries, and lots of children also,” Endres said. “I was surprised at how quiet a crowd that large was.”

Nick March, a junior in business, was visiting Rome during the time of the Pope’s passing, but is actually studying abroad in England. March described his time in Rome as an “interesting experience,” noting that it was a mere coincidence he was there two days after the Pope passed away.

March and his friend Jon Morton, sophomore in business, attended the Pope’s visitation. March said he went not for religious reasons, but to pay respect to a highly influential figure and to take part in an event that was on the global scene.

“We definitely underestimated what 5 million people flocking to one location for an event actually meant,” March said in an e-mail, adding that he was impressed by how the city authorities handled the mass crowds.

“They handed out food and water at many check points in the line,” March said. “(They) were very friendly.”

March and Morton were not able to enter St. Peter’s Basilica until their second visit and after waiting eight hours in line.

“The entire atmosphere was very surreal and difficult to explain in words,” March said.

Although March and Morton were rushed past the Pope, with only enough time to snap a picture, March said it was not the actual visitation of the Pope that made the experience so amazing, but waiting in line with the millions of people.

“It was unbelievable to see how much of an impact one person had on the world,” March said.

March, who is not Catholic, said the death of the Pope did not have any drastic affect on his life, but that he could see why many were moved by the occurrence.

“I can understand why many were deeply affected,” March said. “But for me it was the world reaction that moved me the most.”

Maggie Krasuski, junior in business, was studying in Paris, France, when the Pope passed away. Krasuski, who is of Polish decent, said the death of the Pope probably had a bigger effect on her than others she knew. In an e-mail, she described the day before his death as “very strange for (her)” because she was watching TV and news coverage continued to report that the Pope was in his last hours.

“I felt like we were all just waiting to hear the bad news,” Krasuski said.

The next day, April 2, was Krasuski’s birthday – and also the day the Pope passed away.

“When I heard that he died, it hit me pretty hard,” she said. “It’s weird because I’ve never cried about someone’s death that I didn’t really know. I felt like I had lost a member of my family.”

Krasuski saw the Pope with her mother in Warsaw, Poland, when she was about 6. She said she does not remember much about the trip, only that she and her mom were very happy that day.

“He had a certain aura about him,” Krasuski said. “Even if you just saw him in pictures you instantly became happy.”