I saw Pope Francis yesterday and am feeling extra blessed today. Now I’m not Catholic and this is only the second mass I’ve attended. The first was when I heard the Vienna Boys Choir in Austria and it too was awesome. But this is once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Pope, so I went!!
The Pope is 84 years old and is on a visit to Cyprus and Greece. I doubt he will come here again so this was my chance to see him. He is very concerned about the migrant issue and had a special service with some to hear their plight. I can’t say that the government is doing much to help migrants and I wonder too what migrants are doing to help Cyprus. Anyway I will tell you about the visit and avoid too much politics!
The stadium was used for religious event, not a soccer match! And security was tight - as it should be for such a dignified guest. The helicopter flew over us a few times perhaps to show that everything was being done to keep us safe.
I started the day early and got into the stadium before the crowds came. As the hours passed the crowd grew and in the end there were about 10,000 people there, so I’m told. People were waving flags and I wished I had my little Aussie flag to wave, but it’s okay to be anonymous sometimes!
Some of my colleagues joined and the area filled up. The mass was in Italian and Greek so I didn’t understand too much but the ritual is somehow universal and as long as I stood up at the right time I was okay.
The Pope as I saw him - suggesting I should have brought my good camera with me! And the Pope as he appeared on the screen next to the stage.
I will check the papers to read what he said as I’m sure he encouraged people to reunite and to treat people with dignity. The good thing about the Pope is that when he speaks, people listen, no matter their religion.
I also took this photo from the screen when he was speaking to the crowd again. I hope Cypriots and people of all religions listen to his words and passionate sentiments. Or maybe his actions in taking about 50 migrants to start a new life in Italy is also a demonstration of how seriously he views the situation - and that should also motivate us all.
Finally here’s a photo of my blessed smile.
As soon as the mass was over people left and the clean-up began. I snapped this shot as I was leaving the stadium deep in thought.
I wanted to share some photos taken from my iPhone and describe the experience. For some people this will just be a photo opportunity with a world renown figure, but for me it is also a challenge to think about life