In 2022, I traveled to Rome, Italy for the first time in a decade — and the first time as a wheelchair user. During my trip, I was grateful to (briefly) meet the Holy Father, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church. I have taken many subsequent trips to the Eternal City and, in 2025, I was fortunate to meet Francis's successor, Pope Leo XIV, the first Roman Pontiff from the United States. This unique opportunity is open to all disabled people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
How Disabled People Can Meet Pope Leo
Pope Leo holds a papal general audience in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square at 9:00 a.m. local time on Wednesdays. A complete calendar of papal audiences is published online. At each general audience, the pope illuminates a teaching of the Catholic faith through catechesis and offers an apostolic blessing to those in attendance. Following the audience, he greets invited guests as well as people with disabilities and recently married couples.
Photos © Vatican Media
At the general audience I attended in October 8, 2025, Pope Leo focused his catechetical message on recognizing that joy need not erase wounds, but that it should "illuminate them." He said that "no history is so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope." He reminded us that, "No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to remain open forever." A beautiful message of hope!
Tickets to the Papal General Audience
Tickets to the general audiences are generally required and can be requested in advance through the Vatican’s papal audience website. Subject to availability, tickets can also be picked up from the Swiss Guards at the “Bronze Doors” located just after security in the colonnade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Ticket pick-up times are from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, and from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings.
I traveled as a solo wheelchair user and planned to secure a ticket in the morning, but was directed to the seating area reserved for disabled visitors — no ticket was necessary! You may not be so lucky, particularly if traveling as a group, and I strongly suggest requesting a ticket in advance through the website linked above.
Stories like these are only possible thanks to support from readers like you. Please consider joining my efforts to make travel accessible for everyone by upgrading to a paid subscription today.
Wheelchair Accessible Seating at the Pope’s General Audience
Wheelchair users, rollator users and other guests with disabilities are invited to sit to the right of the pope’s platform near the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica. Access to this area is via a metal ramp to the right of the basilica.
My seating spot was in the first row, to the right of and slightly behind the papal speaking platform. I sat next to a priest who was visiting from Mexico — many other guests with disabilities were seated nearby, within the first several rows.
Meeting the Pope after a general audience
Following the conclusion of the audience program (typically by 10:30 a.m.), the Pope greets guests who have been invited to sit in the preferred seating area — including disabled visitors, who are offered this premium seating location on a space-available basis.
One-by-one, the pope greets visitors, typically for 30 seconds or less. When it was my turn to greet Pope Leo, we shook hands, I introduced myself and, as a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, expressed my relief that the early reports of his fandom for the Chicago Cubs were inaccurate (he's a White Sox fan). He shared that his late father was a Cardinals fan and I wondered simply, "what happened?" 😛 I also expressed my desire for a more accessible Church. Pope Leo was warm and friendly with me, and with the other visitors that he greeted.
Professional photos of your meeting with Pope Leo
Vatican photographers took multiple photos of my interaction with Pope Leo — they do the same for all visitors who meet the pope. Images are usually published to the Vatican Media website within 24 hours, and are available for purchase in both print and (low-resolution) digital form. Due to processing delays for online orders paid with credit card, I highly recommend you visit the Vatican Media offices in person — the office is wheelchair accessible and is located on Via del Pellegrino in Vatican City.
Vatican Media granted me license to use higher resolution copies of the photographs taken of me and the Holy Father, in the interest of sharing information on the accessibility of the pope’s weekly general audiences.
Final Thoughts
Meeting the pope is an incredible opportunity, but with more than 1 billion catholics around the world, few actually get the chance to do so. By offering preferential treatment to disabled attendees of the Wednesday general audience, the Church has granted an enormous gift to those of us with disabilities. My brief interaction with Pope Leo is a moment I will treasure long into the future, and I hope you also will have that opportunity!
