We got to meet the Pope!

Most people are unaware, but any Catholic couple may attend a papal audience within 60 days of their wedding and meet the pope. The "program" as it were is called Sposi Novelli, or Newly Weds in Italian. Couples wear their wedding attire to a regular Wednesday audience at St. Peter's, are given special seating, and get to shake the Pope's hand afterwards!

There's Chris and I, just after shaking Pope Francis' hand outside of St. Peter's. Getting to meet the Pope was the primary reason we chose to honeymoon in Italy. We loved all of the other places and people we got to see as well, but the Pope was definitely the highlight. As you can see in the photo, "wedding attire" was pretty loosely interpreted on a blustery day in December - most people were pretty bundled up over their wedding dresses and tuxes!

You can just barely see the top of my hat in Chris' selfie, but there is Pope Francis! We had to wake up at 6am, and we were in line outside the gates of Vatican city by 7am. The gates opened at 8am.  Thanks to the swiss guards all of the sposi novelli, easily identifiable by their attire, were at the front of the line, so we were in our seats by about 8:30. The audience, however, didn't start until 10! So there was a lot of waiting. We sat next to several other American couples and had a lovely chat about our respective honeymoons.

When the audience finally did start it was a bit of a process - everything that's said gets said in 10 different languages! So even though the total content is less than this blog post, the invitation, the gospel, the Pope's lesson, and the thanksgiving are all repeated 10 times. In addition there is a long processional in which the Pope shakes a lot of hands in the audience, and after all the readings are done he greets the ill and infirm who are also granted a seat of honor at the audience. All told, we spent about 6 hours at the vatican that morning, from getting in line at 7am to leaving the city state around 1pm. 

Our total time at St. Peter's also included a trip through the holy door and into the Basilica itself. After we had shaken hands with il Papa we were ushered through the holy door and into the church, which was closed to everyone who had not attended the audience. We were moved along so quickly, in fact, that Chris almost didn't realize we had gone through the holy door! Inside though one of the other American couples did take a lovely picture of us in front of Bernini's baldacchino. 

In the afternoon we were able to visit St. Paul outside the walls and St. John Lateran, adding another two holy doors to our list! St. Paul outside the walls has long been a favorite of mine. I think it is one of the most beautiful churches in the world, especially the front entrance/gardens.