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. ❤️🩹
