Papal audience
 

Hubby and I have tickets to go to the Wednesday mass on 06/01/05. Other than no open toes shoes, shorts or bare shoulders, are there any other rules/guidelines we should be aware of?
We are not Catholic, so we are unsure of what to expect and what the "etiquette" is in the Catholic church.
Thanks for any help.

Open-toe shoes are no problem - bare feet would be. Just cover your shoulders and no shorts or short skirts and you are fine.

MLISS, please, if you get a chance upon your return, post what the experience was like. I too have tix for a Wednesday audience in July, and would like to know a bit what to expect.
Thank you, and have a fantastic trip in Rome!!

How does one obtain a ticket for a papal audience?

My hubby is a Dept of Defense civilian, so were got them through the USO.
However, I do believe you can get them through tour operators.

If the Audience is held outside in St. Peter's Square, no ticket is necessary to stand behind the seats at the back of the Piazza. If there are open seats, sometimes you will be allowed to sit down once the Audience begins. In order to get tickets, to sit outside or to attend inside the Audience Hall, you can email the church of Santa Susanna in Rome or the North American College in Rome, or obtain them at the Visitor's information office in the Vatican once you are in Rome.

You can also request your local priest to arrange for the tickets, as we did two years ago. The bonus of doing that is that we went to the American College of Cardinals in Rome to pick up our tickets the day before. We were treated like long-lost family members and given a tour of their facility as well as given an orientation about the audience on Wednesday. We attended the Papal Audience - it is not a Mass. I can tell you how it worked when we went. If you're facing the front of St. Peter's, the Pope came in from the left in the Popemobile, between the first and second sections , came down the far right aisle, then around the front to the middle aisle and up the stairs. He came right down the center aisle when he left. So, get there early, sit on the end of the middle aisle, or on end of the right aisle, or last row on the first section of seats or front row of the second section of seats. It was an amazing experience.
Good luck.

My husband & I just returned from Italy & we attended the Papal Audience on Wednesday. I was so impressed being there and seeing the mass of people. We did not have tickets, so we did not sit down on the chairs, but we were standing right up to the barricades and I was able to get a great picture of the Pope as he was coming by on the Pope Mobile/Car. He was supposed to arrive at 10am, but it started to rain so hard (and everyone standing & sitting in the square ran for shelter by the large columns surrounding the square).

I am Catholic and it was an emotional experience for me. Great experience.

As for dress code: No bare shoulders (keep them covered), no shorts for men, and skirts/shorts on women must fall below the knee (no knees please) =). I think that's about it.

Adding this (not so recently) updated information whici reinforces the post by "psy_dr" above, and gives some additional material for those seeking tickets to a papal audience.

http://www.santasusanna.org/popeVatican/tickets.html

Best wishes,

Rex

Don't go queueing up for the Communion if you are not Catholic. I saw some Americans being highly embarrassed at a Mass in France, with the communion bread being physically taken away from them as one woman tried to put hers in her handbag as a memento!

I would also recommend standing right up close to the barricades rather than sitting in the seats. My family and I did this when we were there in October, and it worked out very well; the Pope went right by us and we got an amazing picture. Also, standing makes it easier to slip out early if you don't want to stay for the whole audience. Good luck!

There is no Mass, therefore no communion is served at a Papal Audience.

However, it is true, that Catholics do request that guests abstain from communion if they are not Catholic.

Too funny, lawchick!

I can see, however, that they would object to someone taking the body of Christ as a souvenir.

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Expect thousands of people. Plan on getting there early to get up front.
You can get tickets when you arrive in Rome at Santa Susanna church not far from the Termini.Between 5 and 6:30 people pick up their tickets.If you don't have a reservation, you should still be able to get one.
Apparently, this new pope is drawing bigger cdrowds than ever.
There are forty seats reserved in the front row at every General Audience each Wednesday morning.If you have one of these tickets, you are indeed fortunate.