The Beatification was a blessed day.

The alarm rang at 6:30am this morning. Today was the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Given what I had witnessed trying to get back to the seminary from dinner last night, I knew it was already late to get a good seat. First thing I did was to turn on the computer. The Italian headline on the Yahoo page was that the barriers into St. Peter's Square had already been opened and the crowds had filled every available space in the piazza. Luckily I had a ticket into the priests' general seating area.

By 7:30 I was approaching the piazza. I walked towards the gate which my ticket instructed me to do. I was told there that this was not the correct entrance. I went to the place where I was instructed, and there again told I was at the wrong gate.

I have not said anything about this in any of my blogs, but this is Italy. Minor officials think they rule the world. This gate was their kingdom and no matter what any pirnted instructions said on the card, a change had been made with no notification. So it took me 45 minutes to find the correct entrance. I will not miss this part of my experience - total Italian inefficiency.

Once I arrived at the location for our seating, a group of us from the Institute found some seats and made a claim on out location. It was out spot until 12:30pm when the Mass ended.

All in all, it was an exciting experience. The crowds, especially the huge number of Polish pilgrims waving their flags was inspiring. I could not move around very well so I tried to get some interesting pictures from where I was sitting. Here they are.



The pope arrived at his chair. The story of John Paul II was read by the Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome immediately following the penetential rite of the Mass.

The Holy Father then read the statement proclaiming Pope John Paul II blessed.

At the end of Mass, as the Pope was leaving, the banners and flags went up again, especially the Polish flag.

As I returned to the seminary, a met Bishop Dominque Rey, of the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon. I spoke about him in my blog (go back to the end of January) He was the bishop who I met on retreat at La Sainte-Baume, and with whom I spent a night at his residence, and visited his seminary. He was again very pleasant and invited me to return when I travel through his region in a few weeks.

The experience of today was remarkable. Pope John Paul II was pope for almost my entire seminary time and the first 20 years of my priesthood. He was first pope to travel so extensively. He greeted more people than any other in the history of the Vatican. He was a pope in our living rooms through the media. We reflected a bit at dinner tonight how for many younger priests, and through the formative years of all the current seminarians, he was the only pope they ever knew.

The message of Pope John Paul II that was chosen to emblazen across the pillars of the colonade was "Open wide the doors for Christ". Certainly a model for us all.

Some of the itstitute priests gathered on the balcony of one room for a bit of late afternoon cheer.

A bunch of "cheer" filled priests

The days of the Spring semester Institute for Continuing Theological Education is coming to a close. Tomorrow we have Mass with the rector of the seminary, a brief reception, and then Pranzo. The rest of the day will be packing and making final preparations to leave. I'm sure there will be a group of us going out for a dinner somewhere in Rome.

It is unbelievable how fast the 12 weeks have gone by here. Many of my colleagues leave Tuesday and are back in their parish on Wednesday. My sabbatical based on our diocesan program continues for another 8 weeks.

Stay tuned and Keep posted.