An 81-year-old French-Argentine nun, Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, broke protocol at St. Peter’s Basilica by approaching a restricted area to pray before the coffin of Pope Francis. 

The area is traditionally reserved for cardinals, bishops, and priests, but the nun was permitted to grieve in quiet dignity.

Video footage shows Jeanningros stepping toward a rope stanchion with the assistance of an official, who gently guides her forward. Overcome with emotion, she bursts into tears as she approaches the late pontiff’s coffin. Despite the deviation from custom, no security officials intervened, allowing her a deeply personal moment of farewell.

Jeanningros is the niece of Léonie Duquet, a French nun who, along with Sister Alice Domon, was abducted and disappeared during Argentina’s last military dictatorship. Both were victims of a clandestine operation targeting members of the Santa Cruz church community, orchestrated by regime operative Alfredo Astiz.

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Beyond her personal loss, Jeanningros has played an active role in seeking justice for those affected by the last dictatorship in Argentina and in the wider region. She also closely followed, and testified in as a witness, the Italian trials of Latin American dictators involved in Operation Condor. 

While prosecutions had taken place across Latin America in the late 20th century, it wasn’t until December 2000 that the Italian courts pursued their own cases. These trials addressed the disappearances of Italian citizens and those of Italian descent during the region’s military regimes. The most recent conviction was handed down in 2022.

A familiar figure at Vatican events, Jeanningros told Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that she often attended the Pope’s weekly audiences, sometimes bringing members of the LGBTQ+ community with her to meet him. Her efforts have focused on inclusion and compassion for marginalized and poorer communities.

In July, Pope Francis personally visited Jeanningros in Ostia, a Roman coastal suburb, to acknowledge her longstanding humanitarian work. Their meeting, held at Luna Park fairground, underscored the Pope’s support for her outreach to the LGBTQ+ community and others facing social exclusion.