Estela Astacio is Communications Director for the Office of Global Health Diplomacy at the State Department. In this interview, she describes her work as a volunteer press coordinator for the Pope’s visit and discusses the immense impact that her work had on her.

The Black & White: What were your responsibilities during the Pope’s visit?

Estela Astacio: Leading up to the visit, I was helping and consulting on media strategies and making recommendations on how to reach out to Spanish-language media. Because the Pope is from Latin America, there was a lot interest from Spanish-language media here in the United States. When it came to the visit, I was part of the communications volunteers—about 100 people from around the country and even from Canada. When you think about the magnitude of the events, 100 was not that much. We weren’t the only volunteers, but we were the only official volunteers for the Conference of Bishops, which was one of the lead organizers for the host cities.

B&W: How much work did you have to do during the event?

EA: We did have a lot of work to do, but it was awesome—awesome in the true sense that your jaw dropped any time you were doing anything. Our job was to get reporters any info they needed. Reporters hung out in the filing center and we had giant screens that were broadcasting every single little thing that he was doing for reporters who could not be there because there was a limited amount of reporters that could go to each site. So, they had people like me around to answer questions about the history of the church or who the Pope met. We’d go find the name of the person who the Pope hugged when reporters would ask. We’d also be there to escort reporters to the venues [and] helped set up interviews.

Anything that people needed, we were there. So if you needed to make a Xerox copy, we were there. If you needed to wake up early to distribute credentials to the media, we were there early. It was the week of little sleep, a lot of work—you ate when you could—but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life.

B&W: Did you travel to each of the three stops with the Pope?

EA: I did. It was incredible. I felt like a rock groupie. In fact, I took off two weeks from my job to volunteer. Even though I live in Arlington, I checked into the hotel where the reporters were staying just so that I could be there on-site if we needed to fix something. I was in Washington working before the visit and I went to New York ahead of them to work with the volunteers in New York. I was in Philadelphia to the very end.

We were with his team on two reserved train cars and there was so much security—I’ve never seen so much security before. Law enforcement dogs were smelling us. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced, and I worked at the White House, and traveled with the President and the press, and this was ten times more security than I could ever have imagined. I felt very safe. It was so crowded everywhere you went, but everyone was so nice. It was like the cities were in a trance—law enforcement was just as nice and I think just as excited as everyone else.

B&W: How did you get involved?

EA: I would say that it was a miracle because I have no idea really. I actually got involved through a friend of a friend. A friend of mine for 20 years put me in touch with a woman and we became friends. We were cut from the same cloth—both fans of the Pope—and I said I wanted to be of service, I’d do whatever they need. They needed someone who had worked on events. And I’ve done that at the State Department, when I worked at the White House and at political conventions. They really needed someone who worked on big events, knew how to manage the media at big events and wouldn’t be nervous in an environment with hundreds of reporters.

B&W: What was your favorite moment?

EA: It was really the entire week. But, I can pinpoint three things. The entire week feels like it was one giant day, one amazing ride.

But I think what pops out is the miraculous moment when I got to hug him, and it just sort of happened. I was helping reporters, and I got stuck in the crowd of students. I was telling them that if they wanted a hug they should ask the Pope for a hug, and next thing I know, they made way for me and I held his hand and kissed his hand like you would do a grandpa. I kissed his hand and asked him for a hug in Spanish. He gave me this big hug and a big smile. It was like heaven on Earth.

That was definitely an amazing moment, and I thought nothing could beat it during the week, but the second thing I think were the people I met from across the country–the people who I volunteered with are my new best friends for life. I found people who were Catholic and who weren’t Catholic. People came from Mexico, Argentina and all over, even if they didn’t have event tickets, just to be in the same city as the Pope, breathe the same air, get a glimpse of him. There were a lot more young people than I expected. It was really refreshing to see people gravitate to a man who is like a rock star, but isn’t a rock star. A humble man who wants us all to be the best we can because that’s what’s going to bring peace to the world and make it a better place.

The concluding mass was very emotional. So, that’s probably number three. It was the pinnacle of the entire week. For someone like me who is very religious and is Catholic to see all the people come around for Communion with 200 priests delivering the Eucharist—it was pretty moving. And the music was beautiful. To see close to a million people out there celebrating together and happy was breathtaking, humbling.

B&W: What does the experience mean to you?

EA: I’ll tell you what the Pope said to his deputy spokesperson about his impression of his visit to the U.S., and he said, “I’m leaving happy and filled with such hope.” What he said was great. I don’t have the words to explain my own emotions. I had every one of them. I cried all the time.When he passed by in the Pope Mobile, I was crying.  All tears of happiness and joy.

To sum it up, I felt like the Pope: I left happy and filled with hope. I feel the world is going to be okay, even with the chaos and war and genocide. I hope that at least a little piece of his visit is spread throughout the country.

My heart is happy and I’m filled with joy. I have to figure out what to do with it!