Papa!

The affectionate name in italian sounds so much more drab when translated into the English 'Pope'. But that's actually what the term 'pope' means - father, papa. And it was originally applied to the head of the Catholic church back when Marcellinus was top dog, back in 304 - or prior to that (I think that was when he died - if one can believe anything that Wikipaedia says!), However it was Pope Gregory the VII in the 11th century that made it the official title of the vicar of Rome, which is the other title given to the Bishop who holds the seat of Rome and is head of the World's 1.1 Billion Catholics, who as of April 19, 2005, is Pope Benedict XVI, or B16 (did you know B1 and B2 weren't the only ones?)

So being the good Catholics we are... we went to visit him. We saw his gigantic bronze doors that lead into his pad, deep inside the Vatican. In fact, due to security reasons, it is not public knowledge where he actually lives - other than just "within the Vatican." Which is I guess fair enough. He does do a weekly audience with whoever wants to come and hear him chitter chatter, and he certainly impressed me - rattling off a main adress in Italian (his second language) followed by summaries in six other languages. This guy is a scholar in a BIG way. Other than being impressed by the number of languages he spoke, I have been quite taken with the snippets of his writings i've read - Last year I read a book which kinda summarises his take on Theology - but which is written for Joe average like me, who doesn't necessarily understand all the big terms. Interesting stuff, and most of it, i'd have to say I agree with, the possible exception being his take on Ecumenism. (Don't ask - I'll rant like a basket case!) Flanked by Security guards, not to mention the ever present Swiss guards (see picture above left, and right) who are the elite of the Swiss army - sent to protect the Pope since 1506 - and don't be fooled by the clown suits - these guys are all smiles and friendly as men come, unless you threaten papa - whom they will defend to their death (unlikely) or yours (more likely). So don't diss. papa eh?! Benedict looked almost ailing from a distance as he was escorted slowly but steadily through the crowd in his pope mobile smiling and waving - we had hoped he would walk this bit - our drawcard being the wonderful smile you see below on the right - however he actually turned away from us, just as he got beside us so he missed out on greeting my wonderful daughter. His loss.

Anyway Abbey, thought ole B16 was quite hilarious (as you can see), while Gwen was clearly less taken with his presence! (To be fair, it was a very hot day, and we had got up early in the Morning to get good seats!). I was impressed by the fact that following his lengthy address about his recent trip to Vienna (lengthy due to the number of languages he gave it in!) he jumped sprightfully to his feet and trotted across to the side of the stage to greet a few people. Not bad for an eighty year old - i'd be happy to be that fit at that age!

After the papal address we wandered through St Peter's Square for a bit, which incidentally is HUGE, like super massive - the few thousand or so that gathered to hear Benedict only really filled a wee little bit of the front of the square. Impressive. And Abbey was impressed too - her wee eyes tracing the pillars up and down - while i'm sure her appreciation was a little different to mine, it was just wonderful to have her there with us and to watch her taking it all in - and she did seem keen to take in as much as she could, sitting up on my arm for the better part of the day to gaze at anything and everything going on around her.

After some mandatory family photos we went for a bit of a wander as far as the river, and the Castel Sant'Angelo which is actually a part of the Vatican state, despite not being contained inside the Vatican, From there you get some reasonable views back towards St Peter's basilica. Then we decided to do an open top tour of the city - electing to go with a company called Christian Rome... More about that though in the next blog... Finished off with a squizz through St Peter's Basilica, and an exceedingly delicious meal. St Peter's basilica, I didn't actually realise, is so named because it actually serves as a gigantic tomb to St Peter - or at least what is left of him after 2000 years in a smallish box (see photo on L). I was quite surprised to find that photography was allowed inside the Basilica - most churches don't allow it - but for whatever reasons St Peter's does. In saying that, the photos don't even nearly do the space justice. This really is a gigantic church, the biggest in existence if i'm not mistaken... or maybe that was just when it was built. Anyway just look at the size of those people in the shot down the length of the church. Tiny. Miniscule. Michaelangelo's Pieta is of course one of the most impressive things to see in the Basilica, though I was also impressed with the (again macabre) wax figure of Pope John XXIII... most famous as one of the key figures in the Second Vatican Council.

Most favourite though was this stunning stained glass window of the Holy spirit, depicted as a dove. Really cool I thought. Anyway that'll do from me. Hope you enjoy the pics...