By Julie Marrinucci
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Call it synchronicity. Divine intervention. The tenacity of a Catholic school administrator. Or a combination of all three. Whatever the reason, when Walpole’s Blessed Sacrament School (BSS) Principal Marilena Martucci found herself at the Vatican, talking one-on-one with Pope Leo XIV, it was a moment she described as “absolutely amazing,”
It all began with an off-the-cuff remark by Jane Archbold, the school’s Director of Philanthropy & Alumni Relations, at the school’s regular Monday morning staff meeting.
“We were talking about how to make our school’s 60th anniversary gala really special. I suggested we send Pope Leo a gala invitation, and maybe he would send a blessing back to us. The Pope had just designated this year as the year of the jubilee of St. Francis, and St. Francis is the patron saint of BSS, so it was worth a try,” Martucci explained.
In a matter of about five minutes, the ideas were flying - with Archbold joking that “Marilena is going to deliver the invitation herself!”
That’s when something clicked. Especially with the principal.
“Once I heard it, I thought it was a great idea! I needed to meet the Pope on March 11, giving us one month before the gala on April 11 to get pictures back, put a program together, etc.,” Martucci said. “We are in the fourth largest diocese in the U.S. This is completely doable. I never doubted this was going to happen.”
The first things she did? Bought a dress and shoes, bought a plane ticket, and booked a hotel right near the Vatican. The challenge? To now secure a ticket for an audience with the Pope. But not just any ticket. A “Bacio Mano” or “Kiss the Hand” ticket - giving a person access to actually meet and speak with Pope Leo.
Martucci laughed when explaining that she reached out to absolutely everyone she thought might have a connection to the Vatican, including Bishop Robert Reed, Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Boston and administrator to Blessed Sacrament. Somehow, some way (“he wrote an impassioned letter to someone higher up,” Martucci stated), he secured two tickets - and the principal along with Alison Leary, BSS office manager - were on a plane to Rome.
Not knowing yet if the tickets were for the general audience or the “Bacio Mano” tickets, Martucci still believed everything would happen as she envisioned. And she was right. The tickets, the timing, even the touching gift she gave to the Pope fell perfectly into place.
Martucci had asked students at BSS to write whatever they wanted for Pope Leo to read. The result is a beautiful book filled with their stories, poems, drawings, and even questions. With the book in hand, it was time for the two women to meet the new American Pope.
HW. Can you describe what it was like to be in the Pope’s presence?
MM. He could not have been kinder or more humble. There was an aura of peace and kindness around him. He looked through the book with us and read one of the poems a student had written. It genuinely felt as though he was there just for us and was genuinely happy to see us. He shook our hands, and at the last minute, I asked if I could give him a hug. I hugged him, he hugged back - it was beautiful!
HW. What does this experience mean for BSS beyond a blessing from the Pope?
MM. I’ve been in education for 26 years now, and I genuinely want the kids to feel that they are seen and they are known; that their thoughts and opinions matter. Because that directly relates to how they see and value themselves. My goal was to get their words, letters, and drawings into the hands of the Pope. Every time they see those pictures, the video the Vatican sent us, and the beautiful hand-written letter Pope Leo wrote to BSS after my visit, they know that Pope Leo knows who they are.
April’s BSS 60th Anniversary Gala was the first reveal of her experience in Rome, but she notes that it never would have happened without her family and BSS community. “A lot of people believed as much as I did and wanted this as much as I did. It definitely took this community working together to make it happen.”
