Utah resident shares experiences of being in Rome during the time of the coronavirus

Friday, Mar. 20, 2020

ROME — An almost-empty St. Peter’s Square, no lines or appointment for tours of the Scavi – these were among eerie sights for Cottonwood Heights resident Rachel Le Melle, 20, who was in Rome less than two weeks ago. Although a complete lockdown had yet to be announced, the coronavirus had shut down much of the city.

“People were wearing their masks; travel restrictions were getting worse,” she said. “You couldn’t go up north, which was really why I decided to come home, because I needed to make sure I would be back [in the United States] in June. Not that many people were out on the streets – they live off of tourism,  and it was pretty dead.”

Le Melle is a sophomore at the Catholic University of America’s Washington, D.C. campus. She was in Italy for a study abroad semester, which was supposed to go through May 15, at the university’s Rome campus. Le Melle said she chose to participate in the program this semester because she knew Bishop Oscar A. Solis would be in Rome in February for his ad limina visit, and a group from the diocese would be on pilgrimage there at the same time.

Le Melle arrived in Rome on Jan. 10. On March 1, she and the other 20 or so American students in the program were notified by university authorities that, because of the coronavirus, they would need to return to their homes in the U.S. 

“We were told to cancel our spring break plans; I was supposed to go to Poland. We were told to cancel all plans and find the quickest flight we could home,” she said. “I felt pretty sad because I wanted to try to stay; I know a lot of people over there, so it was really hard to leave.”

During the first week of March her university classes continued, although  attendance was optional; scheduled mid-terms were also optional. With the relaxed schedule in the days before they came home, the American students visited several holy sites, along with tourist sites. One of Le Melle’s professors visited the museum at the Villa Borghese, which usually requires registration and a months-long wait, along with the Scavi and several other sites in the same day, something that is normally impossible to do because of the crowds.

Before heading to the airport on the day her flight left Rome, Le Melle hiked the cupola, Michelangelo’s dome at St. Peter’s Basilica. (Normally the wait time to do so is 60 to 90 minutes). She and the other students also were in the nearly deserted St. Peter’s Square to listen to Pope Francis’ daily address, which was broadcast on huge video monitors. 

“No one was in the square,” she said. “It was really sad, seeing it so empty.”

Despite these changes, there was no sense of panic among the students or the local residents, she said.

“The U.S. and the news outlets were definitely freaking out about the virus more than we were in Italy before we got the official letter to go home,” Le Melle said. 

In the following days, being in Rome, at the heart of the Christian world, was a comfort, she said.

“The practice of the Eucharist has been done there for 2,000 years, under persecution, under plague, everything. … You have the statue of Michael the Archangel in front of Castel Sant’Angelo that was a protector during another time of plague,” she said. “You were the last of the last, physically speaking, but you weren’t at all faith-wise. Catholics are not afraid of death; being in Rome you have reminders of that, an eternal perspective with the people you’re stuck in the situation with.”

“Never did my mind feel like, ‘Oh God, why is this happening?’ Never once did I turn to despair,” she said. “It was a very peaceful, somber time.”

Her experience in Vatican City taught her that “Rome is not about the material things; it’s not about these beautiful churches. It’s about the fact that the faith has been believed and practiced there for 2,000 years,” La Melle said.

Le Melle left Italy before the implementation of the most recent restrictions, which essentially put ordinary Italians on lockdown. Public Masses were cancelled the day after she left. She arrived in the U.S. on March 7. At John F. Kennedy Airport, she had her temperature checked and had to answer a series of questions before being allowed to board her flight to Utah. Once home, she immediately began 14 days of self-quarantine on the recommendation of the university and the Centers for Disease Control. 

Even after the two weeks of isolation, she can’t return to Catholic University of America’s D.C. campus, she said.

Along with many other universities nationwide, Catholic University of America has gone online with its classes, and campus is closed through the end of March, so Le Melle will complete the semester at home. She hopes that the coronavirus is sufficiently contained that she will be able to join fellow Catholics in the diocese to celebrate Easter together.