VATICAN CITY

Today was a BIG day. After a short train ride our day began in the Vatican Museum. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful artwork, but the highlight was going into the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing to see Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgement’ on the front wall of the Chapel. 

After a lunch stop (amazing pizza), the line into St Peter’s Basilica was too long so we then caught another train to St Paul’s Outside the Walls. At this point, this was the biggest church we had ever been in! It was beautiful, and a lot quieter than the Sistine Chapel because it wasn’t as crowded – which we enjoyed. This was of particular significance for us as this had the Benedictine Abbey attached to it. It was in this Abbey that Dom Salvado died. In the bookshop outside of St Paul’s we ran into Fr Brennan Sia – Parish Priest in Kalgoorlie. 

After this we went back into Termini by train station and met up with Emeritus Archbishop Barry Hickey to give him his ticket for the canonisation. It was great sitting down to listen to his stories over a coffee. 

Our final stop for the day was back at the Vatican, St Peter’s Basilica. Fr Brennan was very helpful and gave us a full tour of St Peters. St Peters is now the biggest church we have ever seen – it was amazing! As we left the basilica we met a group of people from El Salvador. This was very moving. We met a Bishop from El Salvador, a lady who was confirmed by Oscar Romero and a priest who shook hands with Romero. They were amazed that in Australia we celebrate the story of Romero. We showed them pictures of our statue of Romero. They took photos with us. The joy on their faces when they talked about Romero was immense.