Pope Benedict and Me
When I studied canon law at the Angelicum in Rome, I often passed Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, in Saint Peter’s Square. In his clergy blacks and black beret, he was a formidable looking man. He was heading in the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith where his job was to be the Church’s disciplinarian. Whenever I saw him, I would pause and watch him make his way across the Square. He always walked briskly with his head down. He never looked up at anyone passing or nearby. I never saw him smile. I always thought how sad that was.
After he became Pope, I saw him once again in Saint Peter’s Square. It was an extremely hot, May day in Rome. There were thousands of people cordoned off according to how important they might be to the Church or how generous. I was on the top step where the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland was placed. The Society was holding its annual conference in Rome that year and it had been invited as honored guests at the audience. I thought only Benedict’s clothes changed when he became Pope. Then something happened.
The general audience was late starting. Did I mention it was extremely hot? I really did not care about seeing grumpy Pope Benedict again, especially if I had to wait in the scorching heat. So, I walked back to the edge of the top step and sat down until it would be over. I could hear everything very well, so I was content from my own little throne on the top, shaded step. I was facing the strip of buildings containing the Vatican Post office and the first aid area. In front of the bottom step my attention was taken by a group of people so disabled and sick that most of them were on stretchers, just lying there. When the audience was over, they swooped Pope Benedict back into his Pope mobile and started to rush past the litters. But it stopped swooping, right there at the litters. I swear I heard the brakes screech over the cheering crowd.
Pope Benedict got out of his car and slowly, went from stretcher and wheelchair to stretcher and wheelchair. He took his time. He touched hands and blessed everyone personally. He did not miss one person there. For the first time, I saw him smiling. He looked into each person’s eyes with admiration and maybe even love. Not one of those who could not stand, was missed by Benedict’s attention. He was nothing short of magnificent. I cried watching the tableau below. I was so fortunate to capture this moment in my mind’s eye. The crowd was still cheering in the Square, but I was the only one faced the wrong way gobbling up the shade of the Basilica, and as a result, I saw this. When Pope Benedict had touched everyone there, he gave a general blessing to the group, climbed back into his Pope Mobile and swished off, through the gates of the Vatican and the saluting Swiss Guards.
My whole opinion of a sad, detached, unsmiling Benedict changed in that moment. I will never forget it.