Pope Day

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Today I had the audience with the Pope! Now, lest you think I am joking, please understand this was an audience of a couple of thousand people ("Pilgrims"), not a 1.1 with His Holiness. Nonetheless, it was incredible, literally bringing tears to my eyes a couple of times.

For background, I emphasize what I have said earlier, namely that I am not Catholic. For that matter, I am not religious in the dogmatic sense, preferring what I consider a scientific approach to the subject of creation, which actually does lead me in a spiritual direction, but that is a different discussion for a different day. In any case, to continue with the audience, every Wednesday the Pope holds a general audience to which anybody may be invited, simply by asking in advance for a free admittance ticket. The attendance at this week's event was very low (about 3000 people by my estimate, or a tad over half of what the capacity appeared to be). The clergy in the audience were surprised at the low numbers, but that notwithstanding, it was an incredible event for many reasons:

• I was 150 feet away from the Pope, closer than I ever imagined I would be.

• The Audience Hall was a bright and cheery environment, not the dark, drab, cold chamber I had feared.

• There are two types of Swiss guards, the colorful Michelangelo uniforms we all know so well, and the Secret Service types, complete with the ear tubes and speaking into their shirt sleeves! The second type was clearly visible before and during the ceremony, and I was told by a priest in the audience they carry guns.

• Nigeria was there and rocking! When the English speaking bishop introduced his pilgrims, he introduced, among others a group of about 300 Nigerians who burst out in a unified song. It was odd in that I never considered Nigeria an English speaking nation, but to my surprise that is their official language, and the song carried by so many was incredibly moving, literally bringing me to tears.

• As is usually done, the audience included a special place for Newlyweds, with most of them dressed in their wedding attire. One young couple, who actually were brought up to meet the Pope after the ceremony consisted of a woman in a street type dress and a man in jeans. I thought that incredibly tacky, until a woman next to me explained this was unexpected for them: One of the guards heard them mention that they were newlyweds (presumably lamenting they did not know about the possible special seating arrangement), and as such he invited them into the special section and to meet the Pope. I'm assuming this sort of directive came from Benedict himself, and if so I do consider that impressive: Some guy in jeans is unexpectedely meeting the Pope!

• Afterwards, I quickly saw the Vatican Museums, with the Sistine Chapel as the highlight as a "warm-up" to the group visit which would be held the next day.

My special dinner sucked!! I had decided some months back that I wanted one very nice dinner in Rome, and for some reason I felt seafood would be appropriate, so I tried the outdoor area of one of the places near the Vatican. The prawns were way overdone, tough, and essentially inedible as in Paris a bit back. Additionally, rather than asking about the wine price, I let the waiter bring me a bottle of mediocre white, only to find out later it was 25 Euros. Oh well, if every dinner risk were to turn out perfectly, it would be boring.

Unlike five years ago, this trip there are no titties on Italian TV! My last trip, it seemed that late at night most stations turned to the equivalent of US paid programming, and it usually always consisted of one or more young women topless, accompanied by a toll free number of some sort. I must not have the equivalent of cable that I had last time!

Oddly, as for the language, I often find myself defaulting to German, asking, for example, for a "vodka und tonic. or saying "bitte" rather than "per favore." Part of it, I think, is my belief that another continental language is perhaps a bit more widely used and understood than is English, and part of it is simply a feeling that speaking English everyplace in the world is just wrong. Even if I don't know the Italian phrase, or if it does not come to me immediately, trying in German seems a bit more altruistic. Then again, it might be nothing more than jet lag and confusion...

At dinner time, I met an Asian couple and their daughter in one of the restaurants, and we chatted about our military histories (the husband too had been in the service, as had I many years ago). They had a young daughter, college aged, and the three of us encouraged her to try out her operatic voice (it actually did not require much pressuring---she seemed to be longing for an audience). She did extremely well, with her voice filling the entire restaurant, They left, I had a few more drinks, and the owner went so far as to go next door to get more ice for my vodka tonic. (Ice is still treated as scarce in Europe--go figure!) By that time, I was feeling very generous, so I gave the owner 100 Euros for my 20 Euro dinner and asked him to apply the balance to a young couple who were dining there; I'm sure it covered their bill and left him a tidy tip as well. When I went back a couple of days later, he remembered me and greeted me fondly!

After dinner, I went back to the "All Brothers" cafe, and had a few drinks. One should not get drunk in public in Italy as open intoxication is not welcome, and I was certainly pressing the limit, but it seemed OK in this particular environment, with the shopkeepers appreciative of my patronage (and tips!). After I was a bit too tipsy to remember everything clearly, an incredible college-aged American woman who was studying in Rome walked in the cafe; she knew the owners and the regulars very well, she befriended me, and she chatted with me for quite some time, discussing questions about the language, religion, and the Middle East with me. I was unbelievably impressed with her maturity yet also her warmth and intelligence. I told her as I left, and still believe at this moment, that she needs to be in charge of the UN in 30 years--if only we had that caliber of clear-headed, reasonable leaders. And, to be totally honest, if I were still in my 20's, I seriously doubt I would have left the cafe without proposing to her!

Tomorrow: I go for the hop on/hop off bus tour, then a walking tour (if I am up to it), then I meet the "group" at 6:00 PM.