Papal bull or not your choice

For those of you who don't know a papal bull is a type of letter, normally an edict issued by the Pope. Wikipedia says it was named after the Bulla, a clay seal which was appended to the end to prove authenticity. It came into my mind when I noticed an advert on my blog from "My Vatican tour.com" promising me a guaranteed audience with the pope. Now I am not sure what in my blog made adsense advertise the pope, perhaps it is cleverer than I think.

Historically, I was raised a catholic and I can remember the excitement of actually having an audience with the pope when I was a child. (We are talking a few decades ago now.) My memories not so good with these sort of details, but I suspect it was Paul VI (1963-78) rather than Blessed John XXIII (1958-63). So, I hear you say, what was it like? My recollection was that it was somewhat akin to modern day TV show production. There was an extensive queue, in which we stood for a while. We were ushered into a large auditorium with rows of seats, much like a cinema. Tension built as the time approached, along with the general hubbub of noise. There was a warm up comedian ("Did you here the one about the leprous drummer? His arms fell off boom boom!") The appointed time arrived and his Holiness came onto the stage.

Now for comedic effect I would like to say at this point that the nuns ran screaming to the barriers at the front, threw their knickers onto the stage and yelled "We love you Paul", but I think that was at a Beatles concert I attended in later years. In reality I don't recollect that happening. What I do seem to remember is being a very long way away. So much so that in my minds eye he is now a small person on the stage in the distance (like Madonna at a stadium gig.) He rattled of a few prayers, gave a few blessings then headed off down the pub. All in all a bit disappointing.

The point is, when you look at the adverts on my pages, you cannot always take them at face value. If they offer you an audience with the Pope, make sure you understand what you are getting. Do feel free to click through to find out more, but please don't come back and berate me if you don't read the small print.

By the way, I had a quick look at My Vatican tour and if you are interested their USP seems to be they can help you skip the queue. Could not find clarity about the cosiness of the audience, so suspect the worst. Next time you are in Rome, look them up. Give my regards to Benedict if you do see him.