We’re all feeling extra blessed today! After an early morning, we walked right over to the Vatican again and checked through security to join the Pope’s audience! We filed in a very large auditorium welcomed by (you guessed it) more wonderful arches along the roof- these ones strategically utilized for lighting purposes as well. The pope  walked down the center aisle (which we were about 6 seats away from), and stopped to talk and pray with people, as well as bless some religious articles. After he sat down, he said his passage in Italian, and cardinals followed with translations for other languages. After what was about an hour, he started his procession back up the aisle, this time taking much longer to work his way along. He took this time to bless articles that people brought along-things like jewelry, rosaries, bibles, among other things. Unfortunately, he only walked passed us, not stopping close enough to us. However, we did snag these pictures and videos of him!

The Pope is all smiles as he walks down the aisle. Credit: Becky Reinke

The view from our seat, we were about 2/3 back in the auditorium. The pope is seen sitting in a white chair at centerstage just in front of a massive Bronze sculpture of Christ.

Click on the following link to see a short video clip of the Pope walking by our row.

https://twitter.com/Deb_Besser/status/819263065975902221

Next, we walked over to John Cabot university to meet with their president, Franco Pavoncello. We joined in a classroom where he gave us a brief overview of the area surrounding the university, as well as the history of Italian politics. What a great way to see the other universities here in Rome!

And there you have it! A short, sweet, and blessed day. Ciao!