Zenit reported May 13 that Magdalena Petrusic, a senior travel analyst at Vatican Tickets & Tours, the company that tracked the data, said the surge was unlike anything she had seen before.
“We’re used to seeing spikes in tourism or event inquiries when a major religious figure passes,” she said. “But this was different. People weren’t planning trips — they were seeking conversion.”
She noted that it was remarkable how closely the spike in searches corresponded to Pope Francis’ death April 21.
“It was as though the world paused, watched, and then responded — not with apathy or distraction, but with a hunger to understand what moved this man,” she said.
Continue reading at Catholic Vote