Papal Audience

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Thomas0

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OK, a Catholic etiquette question:

My son attends an all-boy’s catholic high school. His honors Latin course is spending spring break in Rome. They were just informed they will have an audience with the Holy Father.

They are all in a tizzy, including the teachers and parents who will be chaperoning. No one wants to embarrass the school. But no one seems to know what the etiquette requirements will be. Is there a place/site/book we can access to quickly learn the formalities of a papal audience?
 
It’s a little different than you’re thinking. It’s a large area that will have literally hundreds of seats. The pope will be driven through the aisles before being driven to the stairs in front of the vatican. He will then give a few words, typically announces which visitors are present and from which countries (often visitors will cheer their countries, or sing a hymn in their native language if they’ve practiced ahead of time). He will then pray a blessing over the gathered and bless any items brought with them.

In other words, this isn’t going to be a “meet and greet”/shake hands kind of audience. Just have them be polite and sit in the chairs. Get there VERY early as seetings is predominantly first come first served, and sitting to the front is cool, but getting close to the central aisle is MUCH cooler. JPII passed down only 8 feet from me when I was there 🙂
 
You might want to TIVO or set your DVR/VCR to 4AM EST on a Wednesday. EWTN has a live satellite feed of the Papal Mass every Wednesday that the Holy Father is in Rome. Depending on the weather, the audience is held in Paul VI Hall or at St. Peter’s Square.

At the beginning of each audience a scriptural passage is read in five languages, English being one of them. The Holy Father will then give his catechesis in Italian. After that, he will then recognize the faithful in several languages. A prelate will introduce the English-speaking pilgrims, sometimes naming particular delegations from various countries. Your group might even be introduced by name. Should this happen, scream like banshees.

The Holy Father will then deliver a brief summary of his catechesis in English. At the end of the audience, everyone will chant the Pater Noster in Latin. The Latin text is printed on the back of your tickets. Then, he will impart the apostolic blessing on everyone.

Now, there are occasions when he will receive groups in private. Maybe this will be the case with the group listed in the OP.
 
Thank you for this information. I just experimented with streaming the EWTN video and it worked. So we will watch for the boys!
 
Thank you again for the EWTN video information. It worked wonderfully. The camera actually focused on the boys cheering when their school was announced. We parents who could not be there were watching and we saw them cheering!

The cleric mispronounced the name of the school, but no one minds at all.
 
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