On the Obviousness of Global Warming and the Economic Crisis
January 1, 2009























by Craig Glantz

“Benedicto! Benedicto!”

That was the chant reverberating throughout St. Peter’s Square on April 22nd, 2009 when the Italian pilgrims finally had their chance to vie for the Holy Father’s attention. Wenqi (my bride) and I were present as a result of being recently married in the Catholic Church. We were actually at a Papal Audience! How did we, both converts to the Catholic faith and both living in Philadelphia, end up at a Papal Audience at the Vatican ready to greet our beloved Holy Father? We can really thank Fr. Jim McGuinn, a priest whom I know and work for at St. Mary’s of the Assumption in Manayunk, Pa. Fr. Jim is the one who first told us about this opportunity to have an audience with the Pope. This begs a couple of questions, “How did we, two unknown, random Catholics get to have an audience with the Pope?” “Did Fr. Jim know someone inside the Vatican?” “Did we have to bribe the Swiss guards at the front gate?” “How much did the tickets cost?” Don’t worry! These questions will be answered later on.

“Did Fr. Jim have friends inside the Vatican?” Well, Fr. Jim does know many people and his sphere of influence is wide. In fact he does know a friend, who is a priest who lives in Rome. This friend said that he would help us in any way that he could. We also decided to ask our friends (some who were living in Rome) and other priests about how to obtain these tickets to get a wide array of options.  As we were waiting for replies, I, being impatient, decided to take a shot in the dark and used Google to find out what I could. I found my way to the North American College’s (NAC) website.

The North American College is a Pontifical seminary in Rome, it is “America’s Seminary in Rome." Scanning their website I found a link that read “Coming to Rome” and found my way to a contact link.  I decided to send them an email to ask if we could obtain tickets for a Papal Audience. A religious sister wrote back a day or two later saying that we could. She, in turn, asked a few general questions to which I responded. She replied promptly in just a few days and said, “Just show up here the Tuesday before the audience and we will have your tickets waiting for you. You must bring your signed wedding certificate and you must both be in your wedding attire.” Really? WOW! That’s it?! Wait, wedding attire? Anyway, I was so dumbfounded at how smooth the process was and so excited to go that I decided that I would have NO problem wearing my wedding attire. I would even wear one of those funny Swiss Guard uniforms if I had to (no offense to the Swiss!) I told Wenqi the great news and she too was elated. I then told her that she needed to bring her wedding dress and that it was mandatory for her to wear it. Though we both thought this a bit extreme at first, we packed it along with my suit and headed off to Rome. By the way, the tickets were 100% free and can be obtained by any newly married Catholic couple. There is no need for any insider help. It turns out that John Paul II had a tradition of inviting newly married Catholic couples to his Wednesday audiences and Pope Benedict XVI has continued that tradition! What a Church we have! Interestingly, many of you will recall that the 'Theology of the Body' talks were all given during a series of Wednesday Audiences by Pope John Paul II.

As we exited the plane after landing in Rome, we had no idea how to get downtown to the convent where we had made reservations (much better pricing than a regular hotel). We also spoke no Italian so we decided to ask a ticket agent, who luckily spoke some English. She instructed us to take the train to Trastevere station and then take a taxi to the convent. Great! We were so excited!

After we arrived at Trastevere, we found the nearest taxi and we handed the drive the name and address of the convent where we were staying. Looking at the address he just shook his head. He never heard of it so he asked another cab driver who nodded his head yes and took us, in a round about way, to the first place we were to stay in Rome, Casa Fatima run by Sister Carmen (with whom I made all arrangements online by going to www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html).

We found our room, got changed and subsequently found out that the NAC closed at 7PM. So we promptly left Casa Fatima and flagged down another cab and told him to get us to the North American College! We had about 40 minutes to get there so we figured we had plenty of time. Off we went through downtown Rome! Wow, what an adventure!

My new bride and I are in Rome for the first time!! As we were riding we didn’t get too far until we realized that there was a lot of traffic around us and we started to get a little worried about reaching our destination. Not to mention the cab driver was dividing his time between dodging traffic and talking a little too much to a young lady in the front seat. We seemed to actually be an annoyance to him. Anyway, he zoomed in and out of traffic but he finally got us to the area where the NAC was. He pointed us (with the flip of his head) off towards “some street that way” and drove away. It was seven minutes till seven and Wenqi and I were in downtown Rome not able to speak the language and not really clear as where to go. Wow, what an adventure. We decided that we needed to rely on the kindness of strangers. So we walked into a little boutique and asked the owner where the North American College was. He didn’t know but a customer in the store knew and he actually walked us to the seminary. Really, thanks to the kindness of many strangers, Wenqi and I found many of our destinations in Italy.

We literally entered the doors of the NAC at 6:57 PM. The sister who manned the front desk said, “We are just about to close…” She was the same sister I was in touch with through email so we quickly showed her our signed wedding certificate. Then we signed the registration book and she handed us our tickets. The sister, who spoke English very well, told us that even though the audience starts at 10:30 AM, we needed to get there at 7 AM if we wanted to get close to the Pope. We thought that it was a bit extreme but we did as she instructed. We were glad that we did. She also reminded us again that it was mandatory for us to wear our wedding attire. Ok, ok!!

The next morning as we set off towards the Vatican for the Papal Audience (only seven minutes from Casa Fatima) we walked down the hill called Gianocolo in our wedding attire and people were waiving and clapping at us shouting to us, “Bravo! Bravo!” Their attention and affection for us was incredibly hospitable and we really felt special.

When we arrived at St. Peter’s Square, we saw that we were not the first ones there as about 40 other people were already waiting. We were, however, the first couple in wedding attire. As we walked to enter St. Peter’s Square a guard stopped us and redirected us towards the side of St. Peter’s Square where we were to wait until the “doors” were opened to us.

Soon enough, other married couples started arriving. We met a young Italian couple while in line and a few others and we all waited until they let us pass through the metal detectors about an hour later. As they let us in, several couples started to walk very swiftly and rushed up in front of us and it turned out that we fell back to about fifth or sixth in line. As we came upon our seats we found that we were seated in the second row. The people in the first row were directly behind a waist-high fence and could easily have contact with the Pope. We thought that maybe those of us seated in the second row would have our chance to meet the Pope squandered; but it was not.

As 10:30 AM started to approach, the electricity in the air started to rise and several groups started to sing their dirges for the Holy Father as he finally made his way to center stage. Finally we saw our Pope riding slowly in the Popemobile, waving towards the pilgrims and heading towards his chair. We newly married couples and about one hundred others were seated behind him and to his right but we had a decent view even though we couldn’t see his face. The other couple hundred people were seated down in the square.

I couldn’t tell you what the Pope said during his audience as he spoke in every language except English (well, once or twice in English)! But it was priceless nonetheless and worth every moment.

Finally, after his last address, maybe about two hours after the audience began, the Holy Father left his chair and started to greet certain guests farther down to our right. We knew he would be making his way towards us soon! Interestingly, a Vatican official came around and instructed all couples to stand with the bride on the right hand side of the groom. He said the Holy Father liked us to stand this way. Along with some theological symbolism I am sure it made it easier for our Holy Father as he met with us.

We knew the Holy Father would be approaching us soon so I grabbed my cell phone and tried to get a good picture of the Pope but he was too far away (I left our digital camera in that cab the night before much to the dismay of my new bride!). Then, a security guard came towards us and started taking away our seats. He motioned for us to go up closer to the fence with the couples who were in the first row so we too could greet the Holy Father!  Yes!! Good for us. But unfortunately anyone behind us did not get the chance to personally greet him. Thank you kind sister at the NAC!! As a friend of mine, Fr. Gary Stakem said, “You must have had some help from your Guardian Angels.” Yes, no doubt, I am sure that we did.

As the Holy Father started making his way towards us, I started snapping photos with my camera phone. As he got a bit closer I was instructed by a guard to put the camera away, and of course I did so right away, those guys were intimidating. Nonetheless, this was a big moment. Before we knew it the Holy Father was right in front of Wenqi and gave her his left hand. He gave me his right hand which had his Papal ring on it. He looked into Wenqi’s eyes and she said to him, “We are from Philadelphia, I am originally from China!” Joy was starting to really grow now as our expression of anticipation changed into a radiant joy. As she was talking to the Pope, I decided that I should kiss his ring as everyone else does and clumsily did so (though I got half of his finger by mistake!). Even so, it made no difference as it was an amazing moment. Then I heard the Pope speak these words to Wenqi, “You are the hope of China.” He then moved on to meet the next married couple. Every couple was also given two pairs of Papal Rosary beads blessed by the Pope, which was an unexpected joy in itself.

Our experience of getting to talk to the Pope
and of kissing his ring was one of such joyful
radiance that I can hardly express it in words.
The one phrase I can say that most fully
expresses how I felt is this: From the Pope came
graces of peace and joy which radiated onto us
and into us from Christ Himself. If you have ever
seen a painting of sunrays or perhaps the rays
coming from the Divine Mercy image, my
experience of meeting the Pope was like that
and it permeated my soul. I have never felt that
before and I can truly say that I was in the presence of the Vicar of Christ. Wenqi’s experience was very similar to mine and her words were that she felt that it was a “very peaceful and serene moment” and that the electric anticipation melted away into a “gentle peace”. “His eyes were so gentle and his hands so soft” she later recounted. It was amazing for all of us who met the Pope. As you look at the picture of us with the Pope you can see the joy which was radiated upon us. Christ is so very present in our Holy Father.

You know there are good and holy experiences that people receive, perhaps, through the reception of the Sacraments, through Adoration, or Reconciliation, or through a charismatic prayer experience such as a holy burning from God, or even some sort of unburdening, or a humbling thankfulness…. But meeting the Pope was not like any of those experiences…. It was not better or worse but it was like pure rays of love and joy and peace that were radiated to us and in us and through us. The most beautiful part was that the Holy Father imparted his Apostolic Blessing to us and our families at home.

God seems to come to us in different ways, in different seasons if you will. Though He is unchanging and unchangeable, our experience of Him can vary (though always awe-inspiring).  He is the same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow, He never changes. What a mystery!

It should be noted that human experiences are not absolute. Our Lord also tells us to test the spirits to make sure they are from Him so we ought not get too caught up in searching for signs and wonders or being lost in nostalgia. With that being said, I have no doubt that Wenqi and I experienced Jesus in the Pope and I am so thankful to God for His inspirations and affections towards us especially as I write this on Father’s Day 2009. God is a good Father who gives His children what they need…even to overflowing. 

If you know of any newly married Catholic couple or a couple about to be married in the Church, send them to the North American College’s website (http://www.pnac.org/)! You can tell them Craig sent you if you like but you will be laughed at and ridiculed. Maybe you should just send them an email as I did. Pax.

Craig Glantz is Director of Educational Ministries at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Manayunk, Pa.

A Blessing from Benedict
July 20, 2009