Erin Miller

As we were standing at a bar in Sardegna, on the 10th day of our spring break
trip, we saw a newspaper and the headline read that the pope was gravely ill.
We were surprised that we hadn’t heard about that yet, then as we dug through
the stack of newspapers we realized that not only had the pope been gravely
ill, he had died. I’m sure that you have all heard the news and have been
given a recap of his personal beliefs, but here is my quick two cents… I
have some difficulty with a man who wants to end world poverty but refuses to
recognize the values of limiting the size of a family, or the spread of aids,
though contraception. I also disagree that the primary goal and aspiration of
all women should be to be wives and mothers. However, I do appreciate his
progressive stance towards members of other religions. He was the first Pope
to enter a Jewish synagogue and a Muslim mosque, and the first to refer to
Jewish people as Christians’ older brothers. I am impressed that he lived and
studied religion in hiding in Poland under the Nazi occupation and grew up
with Jewish friends. As Pope he traveled to 190 countries.
When Crissy and I mentioned that we had to leave Palau the next day to get
back to class on mainland Italy, the Sardegnan fishermen said that we didn’t
have to leave because we had three days off of school to mourn the Pope. We
were initially very excited, though somewhat doubtful and called one of our
teachers who firmly squashed the rumor. However, the Pope’s death did turn
Rome into a CASINO. On our way back to Perugia we had to change trains in
Rome. Our train was so crowded that there was no place to sit. The seats and
every isle were full of people standing and I was crammed up against a very
polite Italian man. We were relieved at the mass exodus at Stazione San
Pietro.
The Italian government was more organized than I thought though, and the
Protection Civile sent me two text messages on my mobile phone. (All Italians
communicate through text messages as everyone has a cell phone and text
messages are cheap). I didn’t know if I should be proud or frightened that
the Italian government has my cell phone number on file. The first message
said that if you go to Rome (the government had the nerve to address me in the
informal tense) be prepared for organized but very long lines, with hot
temperatures during the day and cool at night. My friends that went down to
see the Pope agreed that the lines were long, but not as organized as
suggested by the government. The people who went earliest in the week had the
best luck and only had to wait 5 to 7 hours, but later in the week people were
waiting at least 10 hours with reports of anywhere from 12 to 14 to 24 for the
very last people. And this was hard-core waiting in line. No one could leave
to get food, water, or use the restroom, which made the lines disgusting and
stinky. The Roman public health workers were handing out water, and paramedics
were on duty, but one man died of a heart attack in line. No one was searched
upon entering the Cathedral and the lines kept moving even while Bush Jr. was
saying his prayer to the Pope. However, the Tibur River was lined with battle
ships, and the Vatican was surrounded by anti-aircraft missiles.
Everyone who’s anyone was at the funeral, except for me and my friend who is
studying in Rome, who said basically that people couldn’t pay her to enter
those crowds. The biggest talk around here was of the four American presidents
that showed up, the chief Jewish Rabbi, and Nelson Mandela.
A day after the first text message the Protection Civile sent me another
message, which was a bit more pessimistic in its outlook. It read that due to
the huge, enormous gathering they have now closed access to saluting Papa
(Wednesday at 22,00 they closed the line). Friday, during the funeral all
traffic in the Rome area would stop and that S Pietro was full. Basically, it
could be translated as please don’t come anymore.
Now the funeral is over and within 15 to 20 days the Conclave will open. No
one knows how long it will be until a New Pope is chosen, or when the Sistine
chapel will reopen.