Mosquitoes, martyrs and tears: Five days that shook my soul

Pope Francis censes as he leads mass at Nicosia's main football stadium, in the Cypriot capital Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital, on December 3, 2021. Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025. [AFP]

The stamps on my passport serve as my ticket to the most extraordinary week of my professional life. When I boarded that Alitalia flight in Rome with three other Kenyan journalists in November 2015, I never imagined how profoundly Pope Francis’s first African pilgrimage would reshape my understanding of faith, leadership, and humanity.

The papal plane hummed with quiet anticipation. Unlike commercial flights with assigned seating, we journalists scrambled for spots while veteran Vatican correspondents like Aura Miguel from Radio Renascença settled into their usual places. “Eighty-five trips with three popes,” she told me, her voice carrying decades of stories. “Each journey writes its own chapter.”