Thursday, May 17, 2012
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Last Updated on Sunday, 19 February 2012 21:39
A Travelogue by William Perry
Italian Motorcycle Trip: Pt 2 - The Vatican
Before becoming a police officer I was a Catholic priest. Like most sons of a Catholic Irish family, I lived with two threats: First, I’d better have a plan when I’m finished school (dropped out or graduated), because I’m out of the house; Secondly, if I end up not being very bright [which was the reality] it was expected I would become a Catholic Priest. Irish in Ireland believed the smart children became Doctors and the not-so-bright ones became priests and nuns.... well, my younger sister is a doctor...nuff said?
Long story short - if that is even possible for an Irishman, this story is for those who really want to know how the Vatican works. Ideally, it will answer general questions that some people have.
After our return from Sicily we planned to tour the Vatican the next day. Kayle was curious to see where her granddad spent a few years of his priesthood.
The Vatican refers to the entire complex, which is about 3.5 km² or 2.5 miles² in area, and is contained within huge walls on the left or west bank of the Tiber in Rome, Italy.
The Vatican is the official residence of the Pope and is where the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter ’s Basilica and other attractions are. Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus, was killed on this hill in Rome in the 60s A.D. and the largest church in the world was built over his grave two hundred and fifty years later. The Catholic Church regards him as the first Pope or human leader of the Christians. Saint Peter ’s grave is beneath the church.
About half of the Vatican is open to the public. These areas are: the Vatican Museums, the Raphael Rooms, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Papal Tombs, the Dome of St. Peter’s, the Vatican Gardens and Necropolis.
To visit the inside of the Vatican Gardens or the Necropolis you have to book an official Vatican tour with the Vatican themselves. These are hard to get on to, particularly the Necropolis. The rest of the things I listed above, are open to the public and tour guides. How fortunate for Kayle that I’m her tour guide. Very few people see the gardens or Necropolis, most people just go in to the Museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica and that’s what people mean when they say “we saw the Vatican”.
I took Kayle to both using my former profession and my current ties I maintained to the Vatican, were utilized to facilitate the visit.
May to October are busy, particularly in the mornings, after that it gets quiet. Some 25,000 go through there everyday. It is closed on Catholic Holy days such as Christmas, Easter Sunday and three Sundays of every month in general.
The last Sunday of every month the Vatican is open to the public for free as a Catholic charity principle, however it is so busy I would not recommend going on this day. One of the mistakes people make is to think it is not busy and they just show up.
To see the Sistine Chapel, or the Raphael Rooms you have to go through the Vatican Museums. There is no other way. This has been the case since the year 2000. Inside it is mono-directional; a one way system, although there are options along the way. For instance the Raphael Rooms are not compulsory and not all the museums are compulsory.
Vatican Necropolis
Sistine Chapel (Latin: Sacellum Sixtinum) is the bestknown chapel in the Apostolic Palace. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 1,100 m2 (12,000 sq ft) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope’s need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgment (1535–1541), is widely believed to be Michelangelo’s crowning achievement in painting.
The Raphael Rooms with many works by Raphael and his workshop, including the masterpiece The School of Athens. Other Raphael masterpieces including “The Transfiguration”.
They are two seperate buildings which are beside each other. The Museums open at 9am and there is a line or queue with about 2,000 people or more in it who have been waiting since 7am. You can skip the line by booking a tour with a tour guide or by buying skip the line tickets online with the Vatican themselves. You do not need to book a tour to skip the lines.
You can skip the line for St. Peter ’s by going through the Vatican Museums and then exiting the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter’s Basilica. This door is usually open although the Vatican has a habit of closing this door to the public at no notice for periods of time, maybe a month or so. This shortcut door is always closed on Wednesday mornings from 9am to 1pm as the Pope is giving a Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican Museums are one of the largest privately owned museums in the world. They contain thousands of peices of sculpture and paintings collected by various Popes over the last 500 years. You have to go through the Museums to see the Sistine Chapel or the Raphael Rooms. In the afternoon, the sheer size of the museums will exhaust you.
After brief stops to use the facilities, I had a treat in store for Kayle. Lunch at the Vatican.
This afternoon we were invited to have lunch at Archbishop Harvey who was visiting the Vatican. I had first met Archbishop Harvey when he was at school in Rome in the mid 1970′s before his was Ordained a Priest. I told Kayle that Archbishop Harvey was raised in Milwaukee. Kayle asked if he rode a Harley saying that Milwaukee is the headquarters for Harley Davidson. He laughed when she said that my granddad rides Harleys. He said he knew that as I was the first Hog riding priest he ever met. Along with members of the Vigneron family, Monsignor McClory, Fr. John Hall, Archbishop Raymond Burke, and Fr. John Vaughan also had lunch with us.
The apartment we ate lunch in was one floor away from where the Pope lives. It was neat to see the apartments again, although Kayle thought it was sparse. I told Kayle that it was part of the lifestyle, and for Archbishop Harvey and others, they live in surroundings that represent our vows: Speak simply and modestly; and be humble in bodily posture.
Kayle hoped to see the Pope. It’s like going to a Rolling Stones concert and not seeing Mick Jagger – my analogy….I should have used Adele as an example. In anticipation, Kayle asked Archbishop Harvey how many times he has met the Pope and he said he sees him almost every day.
Archbishop Harvey took us out and along a corridor. He stopped at a door, knocked, and we walked in. There sitting alone was Pope Benedict. The Pope had been the Angelus from the Papal apartment while we were having lunch, and Archbishop Harvey had arranged the informal meeting. I won’t describe anymore, as this was Kayle’s moment. Needless to say, she was thrilled.
St. Peter’s Tomb
If you met the Pope, what would you say? W ell, you probably won’t, but you can join an audience with him on W ednesday mornings. If the weather is fine, then he’ll hold this general audience in St Peter’s Square; otherwise it takes place in the Sala Nervi audience hall. Expect to join clusters of Catholic devotees, and flocks of camera-waving tourists.
Afterwards, you can take the opportunity to wander through St Peter’s Basilica, admire Michelangelo’s stunning frescoes in the Sistine Chapeland visit the famous ‘Belvedere Apollo’ and ‘Laocoön’ at the Museo Pio- Clementino among the Vatican Museums.
In the afternoon, Kayle and I wandered around a few less seen and somewhat restricted areas.
The Papal Tombs are the official resting places of the Popes although not all the Popes are down there. The tombs are in the basement or grottoes section of St. Peter ’s; they are beneath the basilica floor. Some of the men in there include: John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI among other popes, cardinals, kings and queens. Only about 60% of the tombs are visible to the public. For most, this is the closest the public can get to the grave of Saint Peter without paying money. For us, it was relatively free access.
Literally the City of the Dead, the Necropolis is the original ground level and cemetery where St. Peter is buried. The tombs are on the floor above it and the Basilica church floor is on the level above that.
This has to be said, and might as well by me – the archives are not secret despite their names. You can view any document you wish. But you cannot enter the archive. You must submit your request for a document and it will be supplied to you.
Despite the foolishness of the recent project from Ron Howard and Dan Brown (Angels and Demons) the documents are all available and there are no copies of suppressed scientific theories or great works that were banned. The only documents you can’t access are those which are not yet 75 years old (in order to protect diplomatic and governmental information). Because I worked in the archives at one time, I was permitted to show Kayle everything.
The Vatican Secret Archives contain some 52 miles (84 km) of shelving, and there are 35,000 volumes in the selective catalogue alone.
At the end of the day, Kayle felt like she had really seen the Vatican. The worst thing you can do is show up with assumptions and have those notions shattered by what the Vatican is actually like.
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