The Papal Commuter
Anyone in Rome might be wise to drop down to the Piazza della Citta' Leonina before dinnertime. You might just get a private audience on the street.
In the parlance of Benedict XVI's Vatican, I'm told, the apartment Cardinal Ratzinger occupied for 24 years (right by the last stop of the 62 Bus on which everyone gets groped) is still referred to as "home." The fifth floor of the Apostolic Palace is the dwelling above the shop.
A correspondent tells me a police car is parked outside the home base at all times, and that its "former resident" still gets back there a couple times a week for lengthy visits. It's an open question as to whether he might even be spending the night.... Everyone wants to know whether or not he has cats. Ingrid has maintained he doesn't, and who's in any position to challenge her? I'm still waiting for Ignatius Press to release a CD of him speaking in Bavarian dialect to his feline friends -- it'll become the aural equivalent of the TV fishbowl that gets the kitties all excited.
I'd buy a crate of copies.
Whatever the case, this just goes to show that Joseph Ratzinger -- even in white robes -- knows what he likes and won't be deterred from what makes him happy and puts him at ease. You know, even the Pope deserves some R&R, and as he's never lived within the Vatican walls before, it seems that peace is something the "office" can't provide.
-30-
In the parlance of Benedict XVI's Vatican, I'm told, the apartment Cardinal Ratzinger occupied for 24 years (right by the last stop of the 62 Bus on which everyone gets groped) is still referred to as "home." The fifth floor of the Apostolic Palace is the dwelling above the shop.
A correspondent tells me a police car is parked outside the home base at all times, and that its "former resident" still gets back there a couple times a week for lengthy visits. It's an open question as to whether he might even be spending the night.... Everyone wants to know whether or not he has cats. Ingrid has maintained he doesn't, and who's in any position to challenge her? I'm still waiting for Ignatius Press to release a CD of him speaking in Bavarian dialect to his feline friends -- it'll become the aural equivalent of the TV fishbowl that gets the kitties all excited.
I'd buy a crate of copies.
Whatever the case, this just goes to show that Joseph Ratzinger -- even in white robes -- knows what he likes and won't be deterred from what makes him happy and puts him at ease. You know, even the Pope deserves some R&R, and as he's never lived within the Vatican walls before, it seems that peace is something the "office" can't provide.
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 15:29
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