VATICAN CITY - Greetings from La Bella Cittá! After about 15 hours of travel, I arrived in Rome all the way from my home base in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The view of St. Peter's Basilica has never been clearer, and as usual, plenty of people milled around in St. Peter's Square to enjoy it. The main street leading into the square, Via Conciliazione, has been closed to most vehicle traffic, with barriers up all the way through it. A few cars went through while I walked around, trying to re-familiarize myself with the layout and the bustle, but the police appear to be keeping most of the usually busy traffic away from the square.
As one might expect, these unusual logistics are related to the Synod on the Family. Later this evening (6 pm local time, noon ET), Pope Francis will host a vigil service on the eve of the event, and tomorrow will celebrate the Mass that officially begins the Synod. The vigil service will be broadcast live by Radio Vatican over its YouTube channel, and can be seen live at this post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpqql36jYwI
Also this morning, I checked in to the Vatican press office (La Sala Stampa) and spoke briefly with Fr. Thomas Rosica. Fr. Rosica may best be known as the English-language spokesperson at the Vatican, but he is also the CEO of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation, located in Toronto. At the papal conclave in March 2013, Fr. Rosica spent most of his time with the English (and French) translations of the official press releases and Q&A work. This time, his job will be a little more involved, he told me. The "interventions" by the bishops -- their prepared remarks -- have already been circulated. Fr. Rosica wants to work with the English-language press to give us a sense of what discussions take place around those interventions. As one might imagine, the Vatican wants to minimize miscommunications and ensure an accurate depiction of the discussions and debate here at the Synod. Fr. Rosica feels that this will be more complicated than it was during the conclave, and he's already been burning the midnight oil to prepare journalists for the nuances of the event.
These stories will emerge during the two-week synod, probably more so toward the end. Catholic Match and Hot Air will team up to bring it to readers, and hopefully give everyone a sense of the atmospherics in and around Vatican City during this debate.
