LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE….BAM!

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE….BAM!

I was on a bus this morning, returning to my neighborhood after running an errand near the center of Rome when the bus….one I have been on very often … crossed the Tiber river, and made a left-hand turn to travel 100 or so yards to the bus stop in front of Santo Spirito hospital.

All seemed well and then, BAM! The bus made such a hard stop it seemed like it had literally hit a wall! Those of us who were seated… and thank the Lord, I was!… were thrown forward. against the back of the seat in front of us. Several of the people standing, waiting to get off the bus, were thrown to the floor and those who had packages found the contents scattered over the bus floor.

This was the kind of braking action that could cause whiplash as it was so fast and unexpected! My first worry, of course was about my back because of recent problems. However, I was able to stop any forward action by holding onto the back of the seat in front of me. For an instant, my mind was trying to reflect on what happened, especially as I looked around me and saw the floor covered with glass. Then, as I moved, pieces of glass fell off my coat and out of my hair!

I was seated on the right side of the bus and right behind me was a partition that separated my seat from the exit/entrance to the bus. I looked around to see which of the windows on the bus had broken but was stunned to see that it was the glass partition right behind me, the one at the bus entrance, that had broken all over my head, back of my coat and floor!

 I only thought about it on the way home, but what had to have happened was that someone was standing in front of the exit door, waiting to get off at the hospital, and was thrust into that glass partition, thus breaking it. By the way, I’m not talking about the glass that you find in your kitchen or in a window that is easily breakable. It had to be plexiglass.

I had the impression one woman was being escorted to the hospital….a miracle the bus stop was in front of of a hospital! Santo Spirito – Holy Spirit!

When I stood up, there was a man behind me who brushed all the glass off of my coat, and I lowered my head and asked if he could see any on my hair. I pretty much had brushed off my coat and my hair and things seemed OK.

The whole incident was caused by a woman on a motorcycle who was traveling in the 3 or 4 feet that separated the bus from the curb, apparently trying to pass the bus. The driver braked as she apparently was turning in front of the bus and he surely thought he was about to hit her.

I eventually got on another bus and the next stop was my destination, Homebaked, for my weekly lunch. Jesse was outside with some of the clients seated at tables on this beautiful day and I told him what happened and asked if he could check to see if there were any more pieces of glass. In fact, he found some on the coat collar and even saw some shards on the neck of my sweater.

And just minutes ago, seated on my living room sofa, I found a fairly good size piece of glass! I’ve already brushed my hair, so there should be no more pieces left.

It’s kind of hard to describe the feeling I had the very moment the bus stopped, the BAM, the sounds I heard, people falling, glass spread around on the floor. I certainly spent part of the afternoon thanking the Lord  and praying other passengers were OK.

In the end, Deo gratias, and, as Shakespeare said, “All is well that ends well!”

ENJOYING ROME AT CHRISTMAS AND BEYOND

ENJOYING ROME AT CHRISTMAS AND BEYOND

ROME….

New Year’s Eve in Rome: a quick guide – Wanted in Rome

Rome’s Pantheon set to charge visitors entry fee – Wanted in Rome

New Luxury Hotels Give Rome A High-End Sheen – Wanted in Rome

Panettone or pandoro: Which is the best Italian Christmas cake? (thelocal.it)

AND NOT (TOO) FAR FROM ROME….

Greccio: home of the world’s first Nativity scene – Wanted in Rome

A complete guide on where to ski near Rome – Wanted in Rome

In Italy, Assisi lights up at Christmas with Giotto frescoes (wantedinrome.com)

 

ROME TO HOST WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES IN JUNE

If I were a wedding planner instead of a writer, this would be the week of 5 weddings in 7 days! Having the day off yesterday for Memorial Day gave me some much-needed time to work on what seems like an endless list of commitments – personal and professional – all coming to a head in the very same week! Life is like that, more often than not! The one thing we can’t increase is the number of hours in a day – just how we use them!

Speaking of time: Lots of people in Rome and at the Vatican are using precious time – and a lot of overtime – to prepare next month’s World Meeting of Families in Rome.

The World Meeting of Families was first held in Rome in 1994. They are held every three years, except for 2022 when Covid forced moving the 2021 meeting to this year. Subsequent meetings were held in Rio de Janeiro (1997), Rome (2000), Manila (2003), Valencia (2006), Mexico City (2009), Milan (2012), Philadelphia (2015), and Dublin (2018).

The 2022 event is expected to be on a far smaller scale than its predecessors. Tens of thousands attended previous gatherings, with one million faithful attending the final Mass in Manila in 2003.

ROME TO HOST WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES IN JUNE

A press conference was held this morning in the Holy See Press Office to announce details of the June 22-26 World Meeting of Families in Rome.

By Vatican News staff reporter

In less than a month’s time, the city of Rome will host the World Meeting of Families, which was last held in Dublin in 2018.

Among those participating in the briefing was Professor Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary at the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Speaking to the assembled journalists, she said that despite delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dioceses in Rome and around the world were gearing up for the X World Meeting of Families.

Calendar of events

The Meeting, whose theme is, “Family love: vocation and a path to holiness,” will open on Wednesday, June 22, with the Festival of Families in the presence of Pope Francis in the Paul VI Hall.

From Thursday, June 23 to Saturday June 25, there will be the Pastoral Congress, which will also take place in the Paul VI Hall.

On Saturday afternoon there will be Mass in St Peter’s Square presided over by the Pope, and on Sunday there will be the Angelus.

Pastoral Congress

Announcing details of the Pastoral Congress, Professor Gambino said it would be unlike those of previous editions, as it will not have academically structured conferences with theological-doctrinal content, but will be a moment of meeting and listening.

The aim, she continued, “is to develop the theme chosen by the Pope, taking into account some strong indications emerging from Amoris laetitia, a text that presents itself with very clear programmatic lines for the possible developments of family pastoral care in the coming years.”

The Congress will be built around five main conferences on a number of fundamental themes, such as difficulties of families in today’s societies; the preparation of couples for married life; and some situations of ‘existential periphery’ within families.

Festival of Families

Speaking about the Festival of Families, Mons. Walter Insero, director of the Social Communications Office for the Diocese of Rome, noted that it would be the opening event of the Meeting and will be entitled “The beauty of the family.”

Mons. Insero highlighted that collaborating on the Festival of Families will be the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, Vatican Media, the Italian broadcaster RAI and the Social Communications Department of the Diocese of Rome.

The Festival will also feature testimonies from families, as well as performances from artists, including Italian singing trio, Il Divo.

Accompanying and welcoming families

During questions from journalists, those on Tuesday’s panel were keen to stress that this World Meeting of Families will be an international event that will strive to welcome families from poorer nations. There will also be representation from Ukraine.

Asked about participation by LGBT families, Professor Gambino said that in the spirit of Amoris laetitia it was important to accompany everyone with mercy and welcome towards the love of the Father, and that all families need to feel accompanied by the Church.

Patrons

In a letter read out during the press conference, the Pope’s Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, wrote that the first married couple to be declared Blessed, Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi will be the patrons of the X World Meeting of Families.

 

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY AND 14 DISABLED CHILDREN FROM KABUL ARRIVE AT ROME AIRPORT

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY AND 14 DISABLED CHILDREN FROM KABUL ARRIVE AT ROME AIRPORT

(CNA Rome Newsroom, Aug 26, 2021)

Religious sisters from the Missionaries of Charity and 14 disabled children from an orphanage in Afghanistan arrived safely on Wednesday at Rome’s international airport.

A Catholic priest and five sisters from the order founded by Mother Teresa arrived on one of two evacuation flights from Kabul that landed in Rome on Aug. 25 carrying a total of 277 people.

Fr. Giovanni Scalese, the ecclesiastical superior of the Catholic mission in Afghanistan, also arrived on the flight. He spent eight years in Kabul, offering daily Mass for foreign residents in the city at the only Catholic church in Afghanistan, located inside of the Italian embassy.

“I would never have returned to Italy without these children,” Fr. Scalese told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

“We could not leave them there.”

The children, aged between six and 20 years old, were residents of an orphanage founded in 2006 by the Missionaries of Charity in Kabul, which has now been forced to close due to the Taliban’s takeover of the city.

Sr. Bhatti Shahnaz, another Catholic religious sister who arrived in Rome on the evacuation flight, also worked with disabled children in Afghanistan with her community, the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne Antide.

“The 50 intellectually disabled children we looked after are still there,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Accompanying this article was a photo and description from Fr. Doriano Vincenzo De Luca from his Facebook page: (1) Doriano Vincenzo De Luca | Facebook

Fr. De Luca: The small Catholic community in #Afghanistan arrived in Rome. They arrived yesterday afternoon in Fiumicino with one of the many flights from Kabul Father Giovanni Scalese, five nuns and fourteen disabled children.

EWTN ROME BIDS FAREWELL TO BUREAU CHIEF

EWTN ROME BIDS FAREWELL TO BUREAU CHIEF

In the fall of 2005, a dream held for years by EWTN’s Mother Angelic was realized. This global network was finally going to open a Rome office and I had the honor, the great privilege, to be asked by the network to be the first EWTN Rome Bureau Chief.

On August 22, the very beautiful day I signed my contract in Alabama, I visited the shrine in Hanceville and met Mother Angelica, purely by chance! She was praying at the tomb of her mother in the lower chapel of the shrine. Though she had had a stroke and lost her ability to speak, when Doug Keck explained to her that I would be the EWTN Rome bureau chief – her dream! – she gave me her blessing and placed her hands on my eyes, ears, mouth and hands, moving her lips in prayer as she did so. I met her one other time in subsequent visits to EWTN offices in Irondale, Alabama.

To this very day, from starting the first office in my home, all the intervening years were heady times – papal trips, two conclaves, the canonizations of three Popes, Mother Teresa and Cardinal John Henry Newman, as well as a thousand front page stories about the Vatican, about Popes John Paul, emeritus Benedict XVI and Francis.

Alan Holdren came to Rome in 2009 and was soon bureau chief for CNA News and in 2016 succeeded me as Rome Bureau Chief. More heady years! Years of great growth in technology, in personnel and in opening offices in many cities and countries in Europe.

I was delighted when Alan was hired by EWTN and, in these past years, have been doubly delighted by his friendship and that of his wife Susanna and their four beautiful children.

Yesterday was Alan’s final day as head of the Rome office: here’s a glimpse of his story as he told it last night on EWTN News Nightly: Vatican Chief Bureau for EWTN Says Goodbye to the Network | EWTN News Nightly – YouTube

Andreas Thonhauser from Germany will succeed Alan in Rome, arriving in August with his wife and family. A formal announcement and welcome to come from EWTN.

In the meantime, here’s an historic photo, if I don’t say so myself! First EWTN bureau chief Joan Lewis, outgoing bureau chief Alan Holdren and the newest members of our global family, Andreas!

I love the photo and said, when I saw it: “You’ve heard of the Three Tenors? Well, we are the Three Tenured!”

60 YEARS AGO TODAY – SUMMER OLYMPICS OPEN IN ROME

Another quiet day at the Vatican and another day without a press office bulletin but, as I wrote yesterday, that’s not unusual in August. My favorite story of the day follows!

60 YEARS AGO TODAY – SUMMER OLYMPICS OPEN IN ROME

I found this fascinating 7-minute video on the wantedinrome.com website as it marked the 60^th anniversary today of the opening of the summer Olympics games in Rome in 1960. It is in both English and Italian but you can understand most just by the images. The film starts on August 24 when the organizers and over 5,000 athletes gathered in St. Peter’s Square to be blessed by Pope John XXIII. You hear the pontiff’s words and see an amazing pomp and splendor in the square.

Later that evening, at 9 pm, the Olympic flame was brought to Capitoline Hill where remained until the following afternoon, August 25, when it was brought to the stadium for the opening ceremony. You’ll see parts of the opening ceremony procession into the stadium by athletes and learn that both East Germany and West Germany participated under one flag, that of the Olympic Games.

Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PB7VjMW4&feature=emb_err_woyt

(wantedinrome) – Rome held 1960 Olympic Games at Stadio Olimpico and at ancient sites around the city.

The 1960 Olympic Games kicked off in Rome on this day, 25 August, 60 years ago, lasting until 11 September.

There were 83 nations involved in the games, with 5,338 participating athletes (4,727 men, 611 women) and 150 events in 17 sports (23 disciplines).

The opening and closing ceremonies took place in the newly-renovated Stadio Olimpico, which also hosted athletics and equestrian sports, while the football finals were held in the brand new (but now dilapidated) Stadio Flaminio.

However the city also made good use of its majestic sites, with gymnastics taking place at the Baths of Caracalla, wrestling at the Basilica of Maxentius, and rowing and canoeing held at Lake Albano in Castel Gandolfo.

Highlights of the Rome games included Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia winning the marathon barefoot to become the first black African Olympic champion; Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali), winning boxing’s light-heavyweight gold medal, and Wilma Rudolph, a former polio patient, winning three gold medals in sprint events on the track to be acclaimed as “the fastest woman in the world”.

The Soviet Union dominated the games, winning a total of 103 medals, followed by the US which won 71 medals and the United Team of Germany (East and West) with 42.

1960 was the last time that South Africa participated in the Olympics under its apartheid regime, which saw it banned until 1992, while Singapore competed for the first time under its own flag after the British granted it self-government a year earlier.

***** I found another video – 2 hours, 20 minutes – and was riveted as I fast forwarded through it, stopping at some interesting moments about track and field, swimming and diving, yachting, water polo and, of course the marathon, run through the historic streets of Rome and ending near the Colosseum at the Arch of Constantine.

I have watched as much as I could of every Olympic Game ever played since they were first televised, especially when they were in time zones in which I lived. I attended part of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin in person and did radio reports and a blog for EWTN! I felt sad for organizers and athletes that the Summer Olympics could not take place this year in Japan as planned.

I was riveted by the competition and also by the commentary that was sometimes hilarious in this video of The Great Olympics. It is fascinating to see how far technology has come in several sports and how far fashion has come as well! Especially for referees and judges who did their work then in full suits and often wearing hats. Commentary is in both English and Italian. If you have a bit of time to go back a bit in history, I think you’ll be riveted by certain moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx8mGG7KYBk&feature=emb_rel_err

 

NOW, THAT’S THE TICKET!

NOW, THAT’S THE TICKET!

It has been a really quiet day in Rome from the point of view of news, at least news relating to the Vatican or the Pope. Most of the news has been on the vaticannews.va website for a few days, and the only new item on the page dedicated to POPE was in the daily press office bulletin which announced that Pope Francis had appointed a new metropolitan archbishop for Marseille, France.

I usually do not go out for lunch during the workweek but today made an exception to have lunch with a friend and her husband. Diane and I have been writing each other for eons, and have missed each other in Rome on previous trips but today we finally made the meeting happen.

They had a few questions about bus tickets –where to get them, how to use them, etc. Diane said they came to the Vatican area via bus and without a ticket, and I told them they were very fortunate that controllers were not on the bus or they would have been fined.

Bill and Diane told me they saw many people boarding the bus without tickets and I told them there would be one of two reasons for that. Either the traveler had a monthly bus pass like I do and, should a controller board the bus, I only have to show him the pass. So, when I get on the bus, it looks like I am boarding for free. Not true.

The other reason for not having a ticket is that the person or person in question simply did not buy ticket.

Tickets cost €1.50 each and are good for 100 minutes after you validate them in a small yellow and black machine on the bus. Few busses if any offer machines to buy your ticket on board. You may buy them in some coffee bars or at most tabacchi stores or newspaper kiosks.

For many years the tabacchi stores were the only place you could buy salt as salt was a government monopoly (as some cigarette brands are) and monopoly products were available at tobacco stores. Today you can also get lottery tickets, souvenirs, greeting cards, gift wrap and a whole host of other products, depending on the size of the store. If you are in a beach resort, you can buy suntan lotion, sun glasses, etc.

I accompanied Bill and Diane to the bus stop after we purchased some tickets at a tabacchi store.

As the saying goes, ‘That’s the ticket” That’s the right thing to do!

More travel tips in coming days!

 

 

BE GOD’S INSTRUMENTS OF HEALING LIKE THE APOSTLES – FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED: TEN WAYS TO GET IN TROUBLE IN ITALY

BE GOD’S INSTRUMENTS OF HEALING LIKE THE APOSTLES

Pope Francis resumed his weekly general audiences by presiding at the first audience of August in the air-conditioned Paul VI Hall. He continued his catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles, urging the faithful to trust in the Lord, and to act in His name, as the Apostles did.

The Holy Father focused his catechesis on the first account of healing in the Book of Acts of the Apostles: Peter and John’s healing of the Paralytic.

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,” began Francis. “In our continuing catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles, we now see how the Apostles preached the Gospel of salvation not only in words but in concrete actions. The first account of healing in Acts bears witness to this.”

He explained that, “Peter and John encounter a man born lame at the entrance to the Temple. This poor beggar, who represents the excluded and discarded members of society, is looking for alms. The two Apostles fix their gaze on him, inviting him to a different way of seeing things.”

Francis emphasized that “Peter and John do not offer him not silver or gold, but the greatest gift of all: the salvation to be found in Jesus Christ. They create a relationship with him, for this is how God desires to reveal himself: through a loving encounter between people.

“Saint John Chrysostom saw in this act of raising up a lame person an image of the resurrection. It is also an image of the Church, called to look for those in need and to lift them up,” said the Pope, whose predilection for the poor, homeless and oppressed is well known.

“As we also strive to help others, let us, like Peter and John, always recognize our own need for that greatest treasure, which is our relationship with the Risen Lord.” (Source: Vaticannews)

FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED: TEN WAYS TO GET IN TROUBLE IN ITALY

The online edition of The Guardian today published an article noting that tourists who actually down and rest on Rome’s celebrated Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna may face a fine of €250 due to new laws being promulgated by Rome’s city government. Resting on the steps has been a time-honored tradition since they were first built in the early 18th century but all that may be over for visitors who just want to rest in the almost tropical heat of Rome or at the halfway point of climbing the 136 steps.

The Guardian story ends on this note:

As Rome and other Italian cities continue their crackdown on “uncouth” behavior, you might get in trouble if you do any of the following:

· “Messy eating” or “camping out” on piazzas or the steps of monuments.
· Singing, while drunk, on public transport.
· Wrapping your mouth around the nozzle of a drinking fountain.
· Walking around bare-chested.
· Dragging wheeled suitcases and buggies down historic staircases.
· Jumping into fountains.
· Dipping your toes into a canal in Venice.
· Feeding pigeons in Venice.
· Building sandcastles in Eraclea, a beach town near Venice.

FOR FULL STORY: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/07/rome-spanish-steps-fascist-style-measures-against-tourists

VATICAN INSIDER: WHO IS THE MAN OF THE SHROUD? – COMING TO ROME? READ THIS FIRST!

It is Flag Day in America and I hope and pray every home has one flag flying from its roof or a flagpole or displayed inside a window! June 14 for decades was a big day in our family and in the entire neighborhood where I grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, a day everyone indeed hung a flag!. I pray that the stars and Stripes are still important and meaningful for my fellow Americans!

VATICAN INSIDER: WHO IS THE MAN OF THE SHROUD?

In this week’s Vatican Insider, I present Part II of my special “Who is the Man of the Shroud?” – the Shroud being the cloth that is said to have wrapped Christ’s body in the tomb until his Resurrection. A story of science and faith…..

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at http://www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on http://www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: http://www.ewtn.com/multimedia/audio-library/index.asp (write Vatican Insider where it says Search Shows and Episodes)

COMING TO ROME? READ THIS FIRST!

There are a ton of new rules for tourists in the Eternal City and it would definitely behoove people to be informed. So read the story about the updated regulations (some went back to 1946!) and have some peace of mind. You don’t want Italians to give you a piece of their mind if you misbehave!

Here’s a great piece by Lonely Planet (you probably have a slew of their guidebooks if you travel a lot). https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2019/06/12/rome-new-tourist-rules/

I did have to look up the word busk, which means is to perform music or other entertainment in the street or another public place for monetary donations.

The Independent online also reports that, “ticket touts selling ‘skip the line’ tickets at some of the Eternal City’s biggest attractions, such as the Vatican Museums and Colosseum, are prohibited, as are those who dress up as Roman centurions around tourist hotspots and charge money for photos.”

(JFL: if they succeed in banning these touts, it would be a miracle – there are probably 40 or more at anyone time outside the colonnades of St. Peter’s Square! Often, as I walk over to Pio XII Square to film segments for EWTN, I will pass – or be “touted: by – two dozen of these guys. They drive most tourists crazy. To skip the line at the Vatican Museums, folks, just go to the official webpage and reserve a day and time!!)

In its story on the new rules, the online newspaper added that “some offences may just attract a slap on the wrist from police patrolling attractions, while others will incur a fine or a ban from the area where the offence took place.

Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome, told The Telegraph: “Rome is, and always will be, welcoming, but that does not mean tolerating bad behaviour and damage being done to our city.“

She said she would be writing to foreign embassies, asking them to make citizens aware of the new rules when visiting the city.

HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT NUNCIATURE IN ROME

HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT NUNCIATURE IN ROME

Last evening, just before 10:30, the Holy See Press Office released the following statement:

“During some restoration work in a space annexed to the Apostolic Nunciature in Italy, in Via Po 27 in Rome, some human bone fragments were found.

“The Vatican’s Gendarmerie promptly intervened on the site, informing their Holy See superiors that they immediately informed the Italian authorities for the appropriate investigations and the necessary collaboration in the affair.

“At present the Chief Prosecutor of Rome, Dr. Giuseppe Pignatone, has delegated the scientific police and the mobile squad of the Rome’s police headquarters in order to establish the age, sex and date of death of the bones found.”( ANSA photo)

Villa Giorgina, sede della Nunziatura apostolica a Roma, 31 ottobre 2018. ANSA/FABIO FRUSTACI

It is rather unusual, almost unheard of, in fact, for the Vatican to release a statement at that hour.

Media here immediately surmised that the bones – found on Monday – might be those of Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee who went missing in 1983, or of Mirella Gregori, another minor who disappeared that same year.

Investigators will be comparing the cranium and teeth with DNA of the two girls in their possession.

Orlandi’s disappearance has been one of Italy’s biggest mysteries for the past 35 years. There have been as many theories as to why she disappeared – or was kidnapped – as there are Agatha Christie novels.

Emanuela’s father worked for IOR, the Institute for Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican bank. The family lived inside Vatican City.

The Orlandi family, Vatican officials, including the gendarmes and Rome police have followed every lead that came to them over the years, including numerous reports of sightings of Emanuela, both in Italy and abroad.

If the remains prove to be those of Orlandi (and/or Gregori), the bigger question is then: How did they get there?