Papal Audience
May 12th, 2003 | 05:25 AM
#2
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 631
Likes: 0
We got our tickets through Scala Reale. There's a website and an address to which you can write, and you can try a search here for those. Your hotel may be able to help you.
Remember, there is a seated area, and then areas where people stand. It is a huge crowd. On a sunny day in summer, it gets HOT! They sell water bottles with the water frozen at souvenir/drinks stands in the "square." I saw a fire hose truned on and aimed up in the air so that the water would fall "gently" in a spray over the crowd to cool them off! You wait for the Pope to arrive, and then you wait as he gives his message/blessing in an incredible number of languages. He also sits or stands in a vehicle that drives along a set path through the crowd. If you are in the standing area and want to be sure of seeing him up close, get to that path or you'll be blocked. If you stay for the entire thing, it can be a long morning. I'm saying all of this so you'll be prepared. The August morning we were there, it was festive & super hot and crowded, mostly with young people.
Remember, there is a seated area, and then areas where people stand. It is a huge crowd. On a sunny day in summer, it gets HOT! They sell water bottles with the water frozen at souvenir/drinks stands in the "square." I saw a fire hose truned on and aimed up in the air so that the water would fall "gently" in a spray over the crowd to cool them off! You wait for the Pope to arrive, and then you wait as he gives his message/blessing in an incredible number of languages. He also sits or stands in a vehicle that drives along a set path through the crowd. If you are in the standing area and want to be sure of seeing him up close, get to that path or you'll be blocked. If you stay for the entire thing, it can be a long morning. I'm saying all of this so you'll be prepared. The August morning we were there, it was festive & super hot and crowded, mostly with young people.
May 12th, 2003 | 05:42 AM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,325
Likes: 0
Free tickets may be obtained by emailing the church of Santa Susanna in Rome, www.santasusanna.org.
May 12th, 2003 | 06:07 AM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 315
Likes: 0
Molly, if you are Catholic, you can ask the priest of your church to have your bishop or archbishop write to Rome on your behalf for "special seating." You pick them up from the Bishops' Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican. You may also write directly to the above office at:
Bishops' Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican
Attn: Rev. Msgr. Roger C. Roensch
via dell'Umilita, 30
00187 Roma
Italy
Ph: 011-39-06-690-011 Fx: 011-39-06-679-1448
e-mail: [email protected], although you will not get seating as close as a special request.
Last year our bishop requested tickets for us, and when we picked them up we were overjoyed to discover that we had been given seating on the about 50 feet from the Holy Father, in the front row on the same level where he sits. It is a rather long morning, but very moving. I will never forget that at the comclusion of the audience, the Pope drove right in front of us in the Popemobile. I could almost reach out and touch him.
Bishops' Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican
Attn: Rev. Msgr. Roger C. Roensch
via dell'Umilita, 30
00187 Roma
Italy
Ph: 011-39-06-690-011 Fx: 011-39-06-679-1448
e-mail: [email protected], although you will not get seating as close as a special request.
Last year our bishop requested tickets for us, and when we picked them up we were overjoyed to discover that we had been given seating on the about 50 feet from the Holy Father, in the front row on the same level where he sits. It is a rather long morning, but very moving. I will never forget that at the comclusion of the audience, the Pope drove right in front of us in the Popemobile. I could almost reach out and touch him.
May 12th, 2003 | 07:13 AM
#6
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 631
Likes: 0
Molly, wasn't sure whose tours you menat. If scalareale.org, yes, we used them for the Vatican tour (after the Papal audience) and the Orientation Hike and we were very pleased with both. They also helped with restaurant reservations & recommendations.
If you've got the time, I'd recommend you follow Jim's advice and write for those SEATS! If you are not Catholic, perhaps a Catholic friend would help you out. Definitely better to sit than stand all morning.
If you've got the time, I'd recommend you follow Jim's advice and write for those SEATS! If you are not Catholic, perhaps a Catholic friend would help you out. Definitely better to sit than stand all morning.
