A recent trip to Rome became a blessed encounter for healing for a local parishioner with metastatic cancer.
Dana Schmidt, 56, who has stage 4 breast cancer, and her husband, Vincent, were among those to attend a general audience with Pope Leo XIV last month in Paul VI Audience Hall.
After Pope Leo’s welcome and remarks, the couple met the U.S.-born pontiff. Dana Schmidt received a special blessing.
“It was an unbelievably spiritual experience for us,” Vincent Schmidt said. He and his wife are parishioners of Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish in Glassboro, and he is superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Trenton.
He said that he had spent time during the Christmas season figuring out the perfect gift for his wife. “I remembered she wanted to see the pope,” he said, explaining that his wife wanted a blessing for her longtime battle with cancer.
With assistance from the leadership of the Diocese of Trenton, the Schmidts found themselves at a papal audience in mid-January, seated close to the pontiff. “We were three rows from the stage; we were very lucky,” Schmidt said.
After the pope gave his general thoughts and imparted a blessing to the crowd, the couple met him face-to-face.
“It was lovely. He asked where we were from, how we liked Rome, what we had seen during our stay,” Vincent Schmidt recalled.
Next, the pontiff personally blessed Dana, laying his hand on hers.
“It was one of the most incredible moments of our lives,” her husband said. “I’ve seen Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI before [from afar], but to be able to be in the presence of Pope Leo, shake his hand and speak to him was unbelievably powerful.”
“It meant the world to my wife, and it was a wonderful gift.”
He also reflected on how they were greeted at the audience “by individuals speaking in English, French, Spanish and Russian. I saw the sheer scope, size and magnitude of the Church, and it was awe-inspiring.”
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