The Pope's Last Blessing

 So I'm sure you've heard that the Pope has resigned. Which is crazy, since that hasn't happened in 600 years! Last Sunday was his last blessing, so I obviously had to go. I mean, how many times are you going to see the Pope and be blessed by him while in Rome?! And right before he resigns!

We got to St. Peter's Square 2 hours before it actually started, because there were going to be a lot of people there. For his blessing, he comes out in the window of his apartment, which is the building to the right of St. Peter's Basilica. 

There were newcasters and camera crews everywhere! On our way to the square a lady stopped us and asked if she could interview of us for some kind of news. So I thought hey why not? Bad decision. First of all, I was not expecting hard-hitting questions. She asked questions like "Do you think the Pope's resignation is a sign for change in the church?" and "What is your opinion on the allegations of Cardinal Mahony, and do you think he should be allowed to be a part of the election?" I'll admit that I'm not the most informed person in the world, so I really had no detailed answer to these questions. Honestly, I don't even remember how I answered them, because I pulled it out of thin air, and made myself look like a dumb American. So hopefully they don't use that footage, or I'll probably see it on some montage of "Study Abroad Students Say the Darndest Things". I've had nightmares about it. 

Me being interviewed

So after that disaster occurred, we had to wait 2 hours for the Pope to come out of his window. There were so many people, but it wasn't like some crazy mosh pit. Everyone had flags from where they were from, and I saw one small American flag! 

The crowd

A guy was handing out free flags. Viva il Papa!

People also had some huge signs to hold up for him to see. Then people started chanting, which was actually kind of funny. There was a typical "Ben-e-dict-o!" (followed by 5 claps). Or my favorite was them chanting in the tune of "We Will Rock You". But instead of "we will, we will, rock you", it was "ben-e, ben-e, dicto". 

Pope Benedict XVI

When he came out it was so crazy! Everyone was cheering! And I couldn't believe I was actually seeing the Pope right now. He spoke for about 15 or 20 minutes. His blessing was either in Italian or Latin. Either way, I didn't understand it. But at the end he did greetings in several languages, and i caught the English one on video!

It turns out about 100,000 people were there. Overall it was a pretty awesome experience! And totally worth the 2 hour wait! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I am experiencing all of this!

I'm by the fountain by his right arm.