Vatican with Virginia

22/04/2025

Yesterday we celebrated Pasquetta, “Little Easter”. I’m in Italy with my wee girls, visiting family and friends over the Easter holidays. Yesterday was the birthday of Rome, my beloved city, and the birthday of 2 dear friends. Then yesterday became the day that Pope Francis passed away.

I remember the day he was elected. I had a very small tour, missing the Sistine Chapel due to the Conclave. I had stopped by the Vatican Poste to have a chat with my friend who worked at the counter. We heard cheers from the Piazza and word spread quickly that white smoke was seen coming from the Chapel. I went and stood in St. Peter’s Square for the next couple of hours, regretting the ballerina flats that I had chosen to wear that morning. It was chilly and raining lightly, just enough for a miserable day. I stood there until Papa Francesco emerged onto the balcony of the Basilica. I cheered with thousands of others. I didn’t know much about this man other than he was once a nightclub bouncer and loved motorcycles. I thought of Patrick Swayze in ‘Road House’.

Pope Francis was a different kind of pope, one who refused to live in the papal apartments, finding objection to their opulence. He very quickly changed the banking laws for more transparency and officially made child molestation on Vatican grounds illegal. (Shockingly it wasn’t before!) He made his papacy about respect of all people, especially the marginalised. He advocated for the poor, for peace, for respect of all religions. He ruffled a lot of feathers within the Vatican. He was empathic, a voice of reason in a world going mad.

We planned to be in Rome this coming weekend. Now we’ll be there for Francesco’s funeral. I was surprised how sad I was to hear of his passing, tears arriving that I didn’t expect. I just hope the College of Cardinals elects a new Pope with as much integrity and compassion as the one we just lost.

17/01/2025

I was back in Pompei a year and a half ago with my niece and daughters. It’s near to where my family originated. It’s such an extraordinary site and now even more so. This is the most exciting discovery in a very long time! I can’t wait to see it in person.

A huge private bathhouse is found after lying hidden for 2,000 years under volcanic rock and ash.

29/12/2024

And so the Jubilee has begun. Wish it looked more like its name!

06/10/2024

Just a little family reunion in Rome, 20 years in the making!

21/04/2024

My Home forever, 2776 years old today! Always a stunner. 🥳🥂🍾😍

12/04/2024

Last week I had a wonderful conversation with my dear friend Philomena. We met walking in the park and bonded over a love of philosophical conversation. She is a working Sister of Mercy. I am a former Catholic.

I reluctantly told her about my experience at the Vatican, the instance that led me to be banished from working as a tour guide there. I worked extremely hard on my tour, reading every account of the Sistine Chapel creation that I could find. I integrated related art works on the tour’s path. I gave it my all each day with respect to the fact that seeing the Chapel is a once in a lifetime experience for most.

I was dramatic, for sure, entertaining even. I was also honest in my understanding of these events and the people involved. I never sugar coated. Michaelangelo claimed Pope Julius II forced him to fresco the ceiling under threat of death. I believed him. This was a pope with a famous love of war.

The Vatican sent spies on my tour. I knew it as soon as they joined but couldn’t think of single good reason to ask them to leave. They were Italian, very conservative and bookish, not suited at all for my theatrical English experience. It was only days after these oddballs heard my explanations of the Chapel that I received an email from the head of the museums. In it, he stated that when my licence expired, I did not have permission to ask for a renewal. I was seen as not pro church.

This email turned my world upside down. I gave so much of my heart and soul to telling Michaelangelo’s story and I could not betray it to paint a better picture of a pope. Most of them weren’t nice people.

With a nervousness of offending my dear friend and the church she serves, I told her what had ended my Vatican career. She listened carefully and said “You spoke truth to power. Power, no matter who holds it, doesn’t like that.” She, even as a Sister, can see the organisation for what it is and it takes nothing from her own faith.

I hope this new path I’m on leads me to my greatest realisation of Self. The world needs more honesty and acceptance, and I still miss that Chapel like an old friend. ❤️‍🩹