Oh EM GEE! OMG the Pope is stepping down!

The Pope is retiring and this historic event is taking place this week - while we are in Rome.  We couldn't have planned a trip to Rome, the centre of the Roman Catholic faith worldwide, any better.  Not in 600 years has a Pope "retired".  To me,  this is a welcome change.  I say that because it is my humble opinion that a) everyone deserves a rest and b) the church deserves a leader who is able to lead.  I'm speaking out of turn of course.  I neither attend church on a regular basis, other than when in Rome, nor am I a Roman Catholic.  

Aside from Rome's place in history and the mega mega historical artifacts adorning every building, every street and every underground orifice of this great city, Rome is the centre of the universe for the Roman Catholic church.  And to prove it, of the estimated 900 churches in the city, the majority of them are Roman Catholic.  Now ask Henry, or anyone that knows me, I am no history buff.  Dates go in one ear and out the other.  I've asked what day it is how many times today Henry? I like to look at pretty things, marvel at how they are made, put together and decorated... I wonder, in awe, how they managed to build so much with so little.  I admire the skills of the craftsmen, the architecture and the artistic talents, again so much with so little.  How adept they were at building things to withstand the tests of time yet we build houses and tear them down in five years... will we have anything left to show for our time on earth? I wonder...

Bearing in mind there are over 900 churches in Rome, and we've been to only about a dozen of them so far, I originally though that St. Peter's Basillica at the Vatican was the greatest of them all but I was mistaken... the most austere to me is San Giovanni in Laterano.  Now I'm not going to give a history on each and every church because a) I don't know it and b) you can find that information anywhere.  The reason I love this church is because of this....

This is the outside (from the front)... It was a gorgeous day and Henry got a good picture of the  statues at the top.  In the centre is Christ. To the right is the Pope's former residence, before he moved to the Vatican around 1300. 

Constantine

Oh, and before I forget, since we forgot to take a picture the first time we were here, there is also a huge statue of Constantine - he, according to history and Henry, conquered Maxentius and liberated Rome dedicating the church to god and legalizing Christianity.

The Nave - From this view you can see the huge statues of the apostles.  Now, this part of the church was built after 1600 but it is amazing to walk down this aisle.


I think I might learn something from all this .... that's a good thing.

As I mentioned, there are sooooo many churches in Rome.  Not all are grand and bright but all have their own personality and charm.  For instance, just around the corner from our apartment we came across this:

Humble but beautiful - Chiesa Di Santa Barbara Dei Librari... 

Literally squished between a yogurteria and another building is this small churched. Tucked away as it is at the end of a cup-de-sac, the church of S. Barbara e S. Tommaso d'Aquina dei Librai, its official name, is very small and very overlooked by the casual visitor to Rome; improbable as it seems, it is here, give or take 30 meters, that Julius Caesar was assassinated.  Inside:

Beautiful mixtures of marble - EVERYWHERE...

Correction:  Sorry folks, shouldn't try to write and post a blog at 2:00 a.m.   Don't know why I couldn't sleep.

Another of the large churches of Rome is Santa Maria Maggiore.  As you enter it is also imposing and grand.  I've tried to picture a building in Vancouver which I felt would be of similar scale and I'm sorry I can't think of one.  Not including something like B.C. Place of course.  Well the Nave of Santa Maria is very imposing.  Not only for it's size but also for the small alcove under the Nave.  This houses the urn like object in which there are a couple of pieces of wood.  Sorry but you can barely make them out in my picture.  These pieces of wood are apparently from Jesus' manger - that's what the story says, I'm just saying...

Well, there are roughly 897 churches left and so many more things to show so I'll leave this for now and come back to it later.  Love to all, be safe and enjoy life! Ciao.