Meet the Black American who read at Pope Francis' funeral.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday in St. Peter’s Square was expectedly international in character, featuring the new-look College of Cardinals and more than 400,000 mourners from around the world.

Among the lay participants in the liturgy was a Black American in 28-year-old Kielce Gussie, an employee with Vatican News.

The Florida native was selected to read from the Acts of the Apostles to start off the event, on St. Peter’s culturally inclusive outreach to the Roman centurion Cornelius.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be working at the Vatican in Rome, let alone reading at a papal funeral,” Gussie told BCM following the burial rites for the late pope.

“I have to say it is moments like these that you can really see that God has a hand in our lives.” 

A graduate of Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland—just like the last American to read at a papal funeral, then-seminarian John G. McDonald in 2005—Gussie studied theology and moved to Rome in 2019.

During her childhood, she would pray the Rosary while watching EWTN with her siblings, part of a robust Catholic upbringing she received from her Polish- and Caribbean-descent parents, Thomas and Arthurine. Gussie later worked for EWTN and Rome Reports in Italy before signing on with the Vatican.

She says Francis, the only pope she has known as an adult, was a pivotal figure who gave “challenges” to the world and “urged people to take action” as pilgrims of hope and joy on the peripheries of society.

Asked how Pope Francis highlighted the importance of inclusion in evangelization—a major theme of the reading she proclaimed during his funeral—Gussie said he lived out the message of todos, todos, todos. (“Everyone, everyone, everyone.”)

“His entire pontificate was one of inclusion and fraternity. He even dedicated an encyclical to this with Fratelli Tutti,” she said. 

“Pope Francis wanted everyone to feel seen and loved… His legacy will be one of living out the faith in a real, personal way through encounters with those around us.”

Gussie joined the Vatican News team in the final months of Francis’ papacy, roughly coinciding with the final stage of his landmark Synod on Synodality, which helped increase diversity and dialogue in the Church’s consultative processes.

She met the Holy Father personally in October after the synod’s final session, remembering his simple act of blessing her Rosary ring. She also recalled witnessing, during her previous four years as a Vatican-watcher, the pontiff’s tenderness with children who attended his birthday celebrations at the Vatican.

“In both of these moments, I really think I was able to see another side of Pope Francis," she said.

“Not the man in white, whom I reported on day in and day out. Not just the head of the Catholic Church. But a grandfather figure who just cared about the person he was meeting and speaking with. I think he genuinely tried to make everyone he met feel seen.”

Gussie was one of multiple Black Catholics to participate in the most visible portions of Saturday's funeral Mass. The concelebrants at the altar included a senior African cardinal in Francis Arinze of Nigeria, who played a similar role in Pope Benedict XVI's funeral in 2023.

As the world moves on to the next era in Rome—with the conclave beginning Wednesday, May 7, a new pope likely just weeks away—the presence of a unique voice during Francis’ funeral will likely stand as a small homage to his pioneering spirit of uplift.

“Being up in front of St. Peter’s Basilica was a huge honor and it was extra special to have been able to meet so many wonderful, kind people there—from other journalists and young people to cardinals and heads of state,” Gussie said.

“I think the mix of people was a nod to the universality and fraternal nature of the Catholic Church.”

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

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