April 25, 2025 • 8 mins
Rob Astorino talks with Mendte in the Morning about his experience at the Vatican as the remembrance ceremonies take place for Pope Francis.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And Rob Astorino, who's host of the rob Astorno Show
on w o R Saturday from four to five and
host of Saturday Agenda on Newsmax from one to three pm.
Former Westchester County executive, he got a chance to go
into the Basilica and see Pope Francis lying in state. Rob,
if you can walk us through the entire experience for
(00:22):
us so we can relive it through you.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, Larry, good morning. I'm actually yes you could. You
could walk it with me. I'm going to post that
video on at rob Astrino on Instagram X and Facebook
in a little while. But I was very lucky. Mon
Senior Hillary Franco, who is from the New York area,
he said to me last night, do you want a
private entrance tour and get up close to be able
(00:50):
to you know, pay your respects. I said yeah. So
we went in the back entrance, we were scoreded in
and we had seats, you know, twenty fifteen feet from
the casket. So it was very respectful. It's those who
are waiting online the public, and so far there's been
(01:11):
I forget what it was. It's getting close to I
believe one hundred and fifty thousand people have come in.
They're going to close it off tonight at six pm,
and then of course they're going to close the casket
for tomorrow's funeral. So it's amazing just to be here
for this time. I mean, you see people taking selfies,
(01:31):
turning around and taking selfies, you know, as close as
they can get, and it just seems so inappropriate. I mean,
when you see my video I'm walking in, you kind
of get a little behind the scenes as they come
into the basilica and get up close and then I mean,
he's not going to roll video as you know, fifteen
(01:51):
feet away from him praying for the Holy Father. I mean,
to me, that is inappropriate. But it's an amazing day.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Surprising to me that they're allowing that. I just got
back from Italy and I wasn't an event like this,
and they stopped us from from taking any pictures in churches.
I can't believe they're allowing that to happen.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, you know what, these lines, there's so many people
and the line does not stop, so those in the
public who are waiting to come in, and today it's
about an hour and a half wait. It's been up
to five hours in the previous days. But the line
just literally moved, so you are not stopping when you get,
you know, to wherever it is close enough to the casket.
It's probably about thirty feet or so. They just keep
(02:35):
you moving, so you have about a split second to
stop and do a sign of across or whatever. And
at that point, I mean, there's no way they can
keep people from not video or taking photos.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
This is so many people, you know, I've been watching
all of the local news reports and everybody sent somebody
over there, and they've been talking to New Yorkers who
are there, and it is incredible to me how emotional
people get after getting up there to see the body.
I mean, people that even say that I'm not that religious,
(03:05):
but this was moving, were crying as they came out.
Have you seen that? Have you witnessed that as well?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Oh? Yeah, everywhere and it you know, just Natalie and
I were talking before I come on the air about
how as many times as it been here to Saint
Peter's Basilica, It's just it's like the first time again.
It is just so incredibly important and beautiful and reverent,
and you know, when you go in and look at
the artwork and the statues, and it's just incredible. And
(03:37):
there's a mass by the way, there were masses going
on in one of the chapels. It was continuing. So
even though the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church,
died and is lying in state, the whole purpose of
the church is to you know, to pray to Jesus
and to be a good Catholic. And so there are
still masses happening for the public in the Basilica right now.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
A lot of people that were interviewed said they had
a religious experience as they walked up. What was your experience?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Again, just like in awe that I'm here, you know,
and you just look at the marble. You look at
how many years this was. I think this was built
in sixteen hundred, if I'm not mistaken. And I was
told the top if you look up top at the Basilica,
anything that is gold came from America, which is really interesting.
(04:29):
It was before it was America, but it came over
and I guess in the sixteen hundreds or fifteen hundreds,
and so we are certainly part our Earth, our part
of the earth is part of this beautiful basilica.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, I wasn't asking about the marble. I was asking
about you personally, and some of the and some of
the people were moved and were emotional. Maybe you don't
want to answer the question, but I was asking if
you were at all.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, Look, you know what, when I sat down to
pray for the Pope, I really tried to and so
so many ways thank him and that he's blessed right now,
and still ask him for for help. You know, this
earth is a little crazy, and you may or may
not have agreed with this pope, and I tended to
(05:14):
not agree with him on some things and where he
was focusing, but he certainly was a holy man. And
the number of people that I know that know him
personally or knew him personally for many years said that
he was just a down to earth, funny, funny person
and you didn't always see that in public he did sometimes,
(05:35):
but that he was just sort of an ordinary guy.
And you know, he didn't want to live inside the
Vatican in the papal apartment. He wanted to live in
a small seven hundred square foot apartment down the road,
you know, and that I guess kind of signified, you know,
who he was. I did speak today to the by happenstance.
(05:55):
I talked to one of the private security guards for
the Pope, and he actually drives the popemobile. And he
showed me a picture of the popemobile that the casket
will be going in tomorrow from the Basilica after the funeral.
It's about six kilometers he said, So what's that three
to four miles away that procession will be to his entumbement,
(06:19):
I asked, I did say. As a little joke, though,
I did say to the guy, so when you're driving
the Pope in the popemobile, you're talking to him. He goes, yeah,
we do have conversations. I said, did he ever tell you, you know,
as you're driving the streets like to just stop to
go to McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Funny, Yeah, that's funny. I I think you might have
heard the sound we played of Cardinal Dole and talking
about the conclude. Yeah, And he said he said something fascinating.
He said, everybody has a name in their mind as
they walk in there.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yes. Yeah, Well, and there's an old saying, you know,
because there's a popabilly game it's called so though on
the betting odds, who's going to becoming the next pope, right,
And there's a saying that they walk in as the
pope and they come out as a cardinal, and that
means nobody knows who's actually going to be elected pope.
In there, there's full of surprises. Most of these guys
(07:13):
as a whole, I think one hundred and thirty three
they're going to end up voting. They don't know each other.
They're from all over the world. There's a cardinal from Mongolia.
There's thirty five thousand Catholics in Mongolia, and yet this
pope named the cardinal in Mongolia. Also name one from Newark.
That's never happened, you know. So they don't know each other,
and they've got about a week and a half to
try to try to get together.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, and there's so many new cardinals as well. And
we're real excited about your show Tomorrow. You have a
special rob Astorino Show from four to five pm live
from the Vatican on WOR. Great luck with that. I
know it's going to be wonderful to listen to. I'll
be listening and I think everyone else will too. Rob Astorino,
(07:55):
host of The rob Astorino Show on WOR Saturdays from
four to five pm, host of Saturday Agenda on NewsBank
Newsmax from one to three pm, and former Westchester County
executive Thanks.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Rob, Thanks Lour. Have a great weekend.
And Rob Astorino, who's host of the rob Astorno Show
on w o R Saturday from four to five and
host of Saturday Agenda on Newsmax from one to three pm.
Former Westchester County executive, he got a chance to go
into the Basilica and see Pope Francis lying in state. Rob,
if you can walk us through the entire experience for
(00:22):
us so we can relive it through you.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, Larry, good morning. I'm actually yes you could. You
could walk it with me. I'm going to post that
video on at rob Astrino on Instagram X and Facebook
in a little while. But I was very lucky. Mon
Senior Hillary Franco, who is from the New York area,
he said to me last night, do you want a
private entrance tour and get up close to be able
(00:50):
to you know, pay your respects. I said yeah. So
we went in the back entrance, we were scoreded in
and we had seats, you know, twenty fifteen feet from
the casket. So it was very respectful. It's those who
are waiting online the public, and so far there's been
(01:11):
I forget what it was. It's getting close to I
believe one hundred and fifty thousand people have come in.
They're going to close it off tonight at six pm,
and then of course they're going to close the casket
for tomorrow's funeral. So it's amazing just to be here
for this time. I mean, you see people taking selfies,
(01:31):
turning around and taking selfies, you know, as close as
they can get, and it just seems so inappropriate. I mean,
when you see my video I'm walking in, you kind
of get a little behind the scenes as they come
into the basilica and get up close and then I mean,
he's not going to roll video as you know, fifteen
(01:51):
feet away from him praying for the Holy Father. I mean,
to me, that is inappropriate. But it's an amazing day.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Surprising to me that they're allowing that. I just got
back from Italy and I wasn't an event like this,
and they stopped us from from taking any pictures in churches.
I can't believe they're allowing that to happen.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, you know what, these lines, there's so many people
and the line does not stop, so those in the
public who are waiting to come in, and today it's
about an hour and a half wait. It's been up
to five hours in the previous days. But the line
just literally moved, so you are not stopping when you get,
you know, to wherever it is close enough to the casket.
It's probably about thirty feet or so. They just keep
(02:35):
you moving, so you have about a split second to
stop and do a sign of across or whatever. And
at that point, I mean, there's no way they can
keep people from not video or taking photos.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
This is so many people, you know, I've been watching
all of the local news reports and everybody sent somebody
over there, and they've been talking to New Yorkers who
are there, and it is incredible to me how emotional
people get after getting up there to see the body.
I mean, people that even say that I'm not that religious,
(03:05):
but this was moving, were crying as they came out.
Have you seen that? Have you witnessed that as well?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Oh? Yeah, everywhere and it you know, just Natalie and
I were talking before I come on the air about
how as many times as it been here to Saint
Peter's Basilica, It's just it's like the first time again.
It is just so incredibly important and beautiful and reverent,
and you know, when you go in and look at
the artwork and the statues, and it's just incredible. And
(03:37):
there's a mass by the way, there were masses going
on in one of the chapels. It was continuing. So
even though the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church,
died and is lying in state, the whole purpose of
the church is to you know, to pray to Jesus
and to be a good Catholic. And so there are
still masses happening for the public in the Basilica right now.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
A lot of people that were interviewed said they had
a religious experience as they walked up. What was your experience?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Again, just like in awe that I'm here, you know,
and you just look at the marble. You look at
how many years this was. I think this was built
in sixteen hundred, if I'm not mistaken. And I was
told the top if you look up top at the Basilica,
anything that is gold came from America, which is really interesting.
(04:29):
It was before it was America, but it came over
and I guess in the sixteen hundreds or fifteen hundreds,
and so we are certainly part our Earth, our part
of the earth is part of this beautiful basilica.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, I wasn't asking about the marble. I was asking
about you personally, and some of the and some of
the people were moved and were emotional. Maybe you don't
want to answer the question, but I was asking if
you were at all.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, Look, you know what, when I sat down to
pray for the Pope, I really tried to and so
so many ways thank him and that he's blessed right now,
and still ask him for for help. You know, this
earth is a little crazy, and you may or may
not have agreed with this pope, and I tended to
(05:14):
not agree with him on some things and where he
was focusing, but he certainly was a holy man. And
the number of people that I know that know him
personally or knew him personally for many years said that
he was just a down to earth, funny, funny person
and you didn't always see that in public he did sometimes,
(05:35):
but that he was just sort of an ordinary guy.
And you know, he didn't want to live inside the
Vatican in the papal apartment. He wanted to live in
a small seven hundred square foot apartment down the road,
you know, and that I guess kind of signified, you know,
who he was. I did speak today to the by happenstance.
(05:55):
I talked to one of the private security guards for
the Pope, and he actually drives the popemobile. And he
showed me a picture of the popemobile that the casket
will be going in tomorrow from the Basilica after the funeral.
It's about six kilometers he said, So what's that three
to four miles away that procession will be to his entumbement,
(06:19):
I asked, I did say. As a little joke, though,
I did say to the guy, so when you're driving
the Pope in the popemobile, you're talking to him. He goes, yeah,
we do have conversations. I said, did he ever tell you, you know,
as you're driving the streets like to just stop to
go to McDonald's.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Funny, Yeah, that's funny. I I think you might have
heard the sound we played of Cardinal Dole and talking
about the conclude. Yeah, And he said he said something fascinating.
He said, everybody has a name in their mind as
they walk in there.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yes. Yeah, Well, and there's an old saying, you know,
because there's a popabilly game it's called so though on
the betting odds, who's going to becoming the next pope, right,
And there's a saying that they walk in as the
pope and they come out as a cardinal, and that
means nobody knows who's actually going to be elected pope.
In there, there's full of surprises. Most of these guys
(07:13):
as a whole, I think one hundred and thirty three
they're going to end up voting. They don't know each other.
They're from all over the world. There's a cardinal from Mongolia.
There's thirty five thousand Catholics in Mongolia, and yet this
pope named the cardinal in Mongolia. Also name one from Newark.
That's never happened, you know. So they don't know each other,
and they've got about a week and a half to
try to try to get together.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, and there's so many new cardinals as well. And
we're real excited about your show Tomorrow. You have a
special rob Astorino Show from four to five pm live
from the Vatican on WOR. Great luck with that. I
know it's going to be wonderful to listen to. I'll
be listening and I think everyone else will too. Rob Astorino,
(07:55):
host of The rob Astorino Show on WOR Saturdays from
four to five pm, host of Saturday Agenda on NewsBank
Newsmax from one to three pm, and former Westchester County
executive Thanks.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Rob, Thanks Lour. Have a great weekend.
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