Has anyone been to a Papal Audience on a wednesday morning in Rome?

My friend wants to go and I am a little hesitant. I looked it up on the internet and it says it ends at 11:30, but I'm figuring by the time we get out of there with all those people it will probably take an hour.

If anyone has gone please let me know if it is worth seeing. And do i have to stay for the whole thing or can i get up and leave?

thanks

I thought it was worth it, and this is as a non-Catholic. It's full of very excited people, and groups of people from all over the world give the pope a greeting (often in song) in their own languages. That said, I saw Pope John Paul II in one of his last few public appearances, and I had a strong interest in him because of his role in the fall of the Soviet Bloc. I'm not sure the latest pope would be worth it in the same sense.

Whether you can leave - I suppose if someone had an emergency he or she would have to leave, but I can't see going with that in mind.

I haven't been to an audience with Pope Benedict XVI but I've been to several with Pope John Paul II that they have all been worth it to me. But I'm a Catholic so maybe that makes a difference in your situation. The audiences I've been to lasted to at least noon, but they have always been full of cheering and singing groups that kind of delayed things a bit. It doesn't take very long to exit the Audience Hall (used in very hot, cold or rainy weather) but I've never seen anyone get up and leave during the audience. If the audience is held outside in the Piazza, you could probably leave whenever you wanted, although if seated in the middle of a row, people around you might not like it.

For a Catholic, it is a very special experience, a kind of pilgrimage. However, it is an extremely crowded event, and not for everyone.

Security is tight, you will be pressed together with thousands of other pilgrims, and once seated, it would be difficult to leave even to use the restroom. And good luck locating one in the secured area.

One thing to know is that the audience is a liturgical service. (Note: this does not mean that people will behave in a particularly Christian manner. Lots of pushing and shoving from the elderly folk and even the nuns and priests.) When we went, I think some people thought of it as some sort of celeb-event. Not so! The Pope will greet and be greeted and then read a Bible passage, give a short reflection (sermon) and pray the Pater Noster (Our Father) in Latin with the people in the audience. For Catholics from all over the world, this is a wonderful experience of the Church's universality.

A shorter service permitting you to see and hear the Pope is the Sunday Angelus at midday. I don't believe tickets are required for it, and it's about a 15 minutes prayer service.

When we went, we arrived 2 hours early to get aisle seats, so it basically took up the entire morning (8:30-11:30). We are Presbyterians and thought it was cool, but if you are very short on time you might want to skip it. Please only go if you have the time to stay (or if not, stand in the back). A few people got there early, got aisle seats to see the Pope up clse, then wanted to leave once the service had started....pretty rude, especially to those who are there for actual religious reasons.

In addition to the time it took to attend the service, we had to get ourselves to St. Susannah church to pick up the tickets the afternoon before. That took up more time.