It’s a final goodbye’: Houston woman heads to Rome to honor Pope Francis

For Mary Carmen Gallegos, this journey isn’t just a trip — it’s a farewell to someone she considered a spiritual father. Early Tuesday morning, Gallegos boarded a flight to Rome to say her final goodbye to Pope Francis, who passed away earlier this week. For many Catholics around the world, this marks the end of a papacy that redefined leadership in the Church with compassion, humility and inclusion. But for Gallegos, it’s deeply personal. “I’m not a president, I’m just a normal person,” she said. “But he looked at me. He took a rosary I gave him — one made by Indigenous people in Mexico — and gave me one of his in return. That moment was a gift from God.”