Thusness: OMG Pope!!

I hope you realise that I don't use that kind of language in either full or abbreviated form. But if does seem kind of appropriate for several reasons.

The point of this story is that I got stuck in the only place in the city where the Pope's motorcade created an island. I had left work early to see some of the crowd and to watch the Pope go by if that was convenient. I was due to meet people to see a movie so I didn't have much time to hang around. I walked along the crowds as they lined the barricades enjoying the positive energy with groups singing (although one example of that was "Let it Be" by the Beatles - "when I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comforts me…") or chanting (more like football chants - Beee-ne-dito!). I ended up coming past the State Library and walked across a couple of streets, through barricades, to get into the Domain. There I saw on the big screen that Benedito (Benedict) had just got into the Popemobile and so wouldn't be coming past for a while. OK, I don't need to see him and it was a good time to get going anyway.

But in the few minutes since I had passed through they had decided to close the barricades and no-one was able to pass through. The procession was due to pass around/through the domain and with the highway on the other side I was completely trapped. I had no choice but to wait and watch. Mostly what I saw was people and a few crosses. When it looked like he was about to go past then all I saw was the backs of cameras as everyone raised their hands in… supplication? Voyeurism? (It's easy to get big words like those confused.) Then the Popemobile zooms past. OK, it was moving fairly slowly, for a car, but from my perspective it was only moving slow enough to allow you to see that the pope was actually in it.

It? It is basically a glass display case. It didn't feel like meeting a person. It felt like the viewing of a holy relic, a symbol. Or something interesting, worth preserving, to be kept in a museum (and maybe brought out on special occasions). Or a body in a mausoleum. (I'm not meaning to be morbid or denigrating anything, I'm just commenting on the strangeness of the event.)

In the end I wasn't waiting that long and managed to get up to the movies with plenty of time to meet people and get some food. So I'm glad I got to see the Pope and have some experience of one of the biggest events in the world. And the movie was great too :)

If you got there a little bit late, this is the view that you would have seen (ie the backs of cameras).