A mother and daughter from Coaldale got a glimpse of Pope Francis on Palm Sunday when he made a surprise appearance as Mass concluded in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

Mary Ann Dulaney and her daughter, Jessica Kutza, were among the 35,000 people who gathered for Palm Sunday Mass, a week and a day before the death of the pontiff Easter Monday.

They spent five nights in Rome, coming off a trip to the Maldives, and showed up early for the Sunday service, thinking they needed tickets but were welcomed into the square with the other faithful, Dulaney said.

“We had great seats and the big screen was up in front of us,” she said. “It was incredible. We could see everybody coming in and going out, the Cardinals. It was wonderful.

“At the very end, the pope came out,” Dulaney said. “They wheeled him out and they said he was talking to people. I don’t think he could talk all that much the way he sounded, but he did say a few words.”

The pope’s greeting to the crowd was “Happy Palm Sunday and happy Holy Week,” she recalled. The pope greeted a few people, either waving or blessing them, or both, she said, and then went back inside.

“It was fascinating, just seeing the Mass, seeing him come out and seeing the people cheer,” Dulaney said. “It was incredible. It was just unbelievable.”

The cheers and applause from the celebratory crowd nearly drowned out the pope’s words as Holy Week began, one published report said.

“We didn’t expect to see him,” Dulaney said. “It was truly a blessing that we got to be part of it and to see him. We got to witness him while he was still here.”

The news of his death on Monday morning came as a shock, she said. She, like so many others, watched footage of Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, greeting the crowds and riding in the Popemobile.

“I was in disbelief,” Dulaney said. “I think everybody, I think the world, was in disbelief. That was a shock to everyone to learn that the pope had passed.”

She believes that the pope making those appearances even with his ailing health made them so much more special to those who saw him.

“They cherished seeing him,” Dulaney said, “Even more now that he’s gone.”

They also shared a small piece of their trip to Rome and Vatican City for the residents of the skilled nursing unit at St. Luke’s Miners Campus, the hospital where Dulaney works.

Vendors had been selling all kinds of souvenirs, including rosaries with the pope’s picture on them, and Dulaney found out how many Catholics resided in the unit.

“We brought back 20 rosaries for the Catholics in the skilled nursing facility,” she said. “They have their own rosaries with the pope’s picture on them.”