An account of Sunday's Papal mass in Rome

[fpb]

An excellent account of what actually happened two days ago in Rome, by an American visitor: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/may/10051702.html . As I was in the city at the time (thouth I wasn't able to see the ceremony, being busy some twenty miles away), I can testify, first, that she has caught the atmosphere exactly: the little details sound just right; and second and perhaps more significant, that she has badly underrated the weather. It was not just bad or unseasonable: it was a monsoon, with days of steady and often vicious rain. On Saturday evening it had got so bad that, when I had to wait in the rain for half an hour for a bus, my very umbrella started leaking. The rain must have broken through the waterproofing. By the time the bus came, I was looking so wretched that, for the first time in my life (I am not yet 48), someone gave me a seat in a crowded public conveyance, as though I were a little old person. (I know that this was not just someone getting off, because he stayed for half a dozen more stops, chatting away with a friend.)

And this was the weather in which up to 200,000 people went to St.Peter's Square to show their support and affection for the Pope. I suggest the leading spirits in the BBC and both the London and NY Times commit seppuku, because there could be no more blazing proof that their hate campaign against Pope Ratzinger has comperehensively failed.

Comments

[expectare.livejournal.com]

'scuz the Pope is so awesome all the powers of nastiness cannot prevail against him!

[fpb.livejournal.com]

One thing that I should also have mentioned is that the atmosphere of affection and general happiness she describes is so natural to us that I did at first find it slightly surprising that she should remark on it. It is not only a matter of the Pope, although he of course draws it more than most. In the last few weeks, for instance, there have been gatherings of Alpini and Bersaglieri veterans - the Alpini one was estimated at half a million - and I feel pretty sure that the same atmosphere of affectionate celebration must have prevailed. Even the Communist festivals - Festa dell'Unita', they are called - are festive and cheerful occasions, attended by man people whom wild horses could not get to vote for the Party; they are simply good times. Likewise the town and city festivals (sagre), arts festivals, and so on. The exception, alas, is soccer, where the thugs have more or less taken over organized support, and people like me never go near a stadium if we can help it - not because we don't love the game, but because we like to watch it in one piece, thank you very much. But other than that, Italians love big gatherings and enjoy them very much; although whether this is because Italians are Catholic, or because these particular Catholics are Italian, I am not quite sure.