The Vatican Visit– Part Eight (the Audience)

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:56 pm by Ben Witherington

The Vatican Visit– Part Eight (the Audience) 2015-03-13T22:56:10-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We were bussed to the back of the Vatican complex, entered by a small door, and then went up three flights of stairs. I, as I imagine all other first timers, had no idea what to expect from an audience with a Pope. Once on the third floor, we wove around through hallways, until we came to the one that led to the Salle Clementia— the audience hall for the day. Here are the shots of the some hundred people who were invited to this audience.

Once we were in the rather small room or salle, we had to find a seat, and fortunately our friend Bernardo found us seats on the second row. We had no idea what this meant at the moment, but we would in due course. We were directly behind the cardinals and bishops of course sat in gold chairs on the front row or beside the chair of the Pope in the front of the room.

When the Pope came in he came in quickly and was all smiles though he looked tired. Everyone had stood up and everything was a blur. There was a great air of excitement in the room. The Pope read a proclamation about the conference and the award to Richard Burridge and a Catholic theologian from Germany, and then the cardinals and bishops were ushered up front to greet the Pope.

The Pope agreed to greet a few more people, those on the second row (not the twenty rows behind us), and suddenly Yuliya and I found ourselves lining to greet the Pope. But what do you say to the Pope– ” I simply mumbled something like “thank you Holy Father for greeting us”. But something special happened. The Pope really took to Yuliya… and she both shook his hand and kissed the ring, and knelt before him….here are a few of the Vatican official shots, which I will replace when they send me my copies..

Afterwards everything was a blur again. We went to the gala dinner

The dinner was in the hall of statues, and here’s the one which stared at me all night…

Frankly I didn’t care if all the statues suddenly came to life and ate dinner with us. It couldn’t have been more magical than what had already happened on a day I will never forget.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 16, 2013

The Vatican Visit-- Part Seven

Next Post

November 18, 2013 Roma Aeterna-- Part Four (the Frescoes and Mosaics in the Ruins)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz