Town prepares for pope's last goodbye
2013-02-28 19:31
Castel Gandolfo - The tiny hilltop town of Castel
Gandolfo near Rome was abuzz with preparations for the last goodbye of Pope
Benedict XVI, who will wave from a balcony of the papal residence here on
Thursday before his papal powers expire and he begins retirement.
A procession of local residents bearing torches and
chanting prayers will mark Benedict's last ever public appearance on the loggia
overlooking the square in a mediaeval town which for centuries has hosted popes
escaping the Roman summer.
"It means a huge amount to us that Benedict has
chosen to say his final goodbyes here, it's a very emotional day," said
Patrizia Gasperini, who works in a gift shop next to the imposing wooden doors
of the papal palace that will close at 19:00, indicating the end of Benedict's
reign.
"We've been privileged to see a different, more humane
side to him over the years, and grown to love him," she said, adding that
her 8-year-old daughter, named Benedetta after Benedict, has written a goodbye
letter to him along with her class.
"Thank you Benedict, we are all with you!" read
huge inflatable silver letters strung next to the small parish church, where
hordes of journalists were camped out and local officials were preparing tokens
stamped with the pope's smiling face.
Benedict - who will spend the first two months of
retirement here - did not inspire the intense emotion or draw the crowds who
came to see his charismatic predecessor, John Paul II, locals said.
"John Paul was such a warm person, he really roused
the young. Benedict was more reserved, and fewer pilgrims came here to see him,"
said Simone Piloto.
But the 85-year old's shock decision to give up the papal
seat after eight years changed the way the town saw him, and many said they
thought he had refused to be sucked into scandals and a poisonous climate
within a suffering Church.
"We've discovered that behind his cold façade
lies an honest man. He spoke yesterday of the stormy waters of his papacy - and
I think he should speak out now about what he knows," said Veronica Radoi,
who runs a small trattoria.
Within the Vatican walls
The soon-to-be former pontiff will arrive by helicopter
shortly after 16:00.
The cobbled town overlooking Italy's Lake Albano is
closely tied to life behind the walls of the vast palace: Swiss guards spend
their down time in the bars and restaurants, gardeners and cleaners come and
go, and gossip filters out.
Rumours of bickering and jostling for power within the
Vatican - which some observers have said may have been a final straw for
Benedict - worried the town's elderly inhabitants, who have known several popes
over the years.
"I was born here, I've seen five popes come and go
and did not expect to live to see a sixth," said 80-year-old Marisa as she
sat on a chair outside her house in the sun, waiting for the afternoon ceremony
to begin.
"Benedict is a good man but he had a difficult, ugly
papacy. Whoever comes next will need to be really strong," she said,
shaking her head and sighing.
