Vatican City, Feb 27, 2015 / 03:08 pm (CNA).- Willy Herteleer, a homeless man who lived on the side streets outside St. Peter’s Basilica, made headlines after his death, when he received a special burial in the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery. The following is an account of his story as told by Msgr. Amerigo Ciani, a canon of St. Peter’s Basilica and painter who had become friends with Willy.

Everyone in the neighborhood outside the Vatican knew Willy Herteleer.