It was an impossibly hot, cloudless day, and to top it all off, we had to line up in the most chaotic spiraling line comprising thousands of eager tourists and prayers. We came in the morning when the fog was still hovering over the Roman streets, but as time quickly passed by, the temperature rose considerably to a point where we started perspiring even while standing.  

As soon as we weren’t paying attention, as sneakily and unsuspiciously as they could, a group of four women appeared out of nowhere and were standing right in front of us. One second I was staring at a grown man’s damp back, then at four Latino women chattering about something and acting as if they started their conversation minutes beforehand. They must have been experts in line-cutting, as some time later, two of them split off to find potential targets for a better location to sneak into up ahead, while the others were still at the same spot just in case, impatiently waiting for a new Whatsapp message. One notification later, they were off to the new location, surprisingly near the front of the line. They had saved a good hour of standing in line just by mere minutes of work. We became aware and careful from that point onwards, and fortunately, we didn’t have any more issues. 

As we entered the grand cathedral, I immediately noticed massive rectangular columns wider than trees directing you towards the crossing or the middle of the cathedral. Here held the tomb of St. Peter, one of the apostles who holds the keys to heaven, a symbol for the Vatican. The area beyond the crossing was roped off to the public and coincidentally, not even 50 meters away, a service was going on, perhaps a ceremony for a bishop becoming a cardinal. I observed for a couple of moments and realized that the head of this service might have been the pope. 

As we brought our zoom camera with us, I immediately hushed, “Quick, take a picture! This must be the pope, right? He has the staff and everything,” and proceeded to grab the camera out of the camera bag. 

It was all down to a matter of patience. I twisted around the lens as far as it could go. I just had to wait for the right moment- now! I took a clear shot of the tired-looking pope’s face slumped down on his chair. He was wearing one of those funny-looking three-point hats that church officials such as bishops wore. During this, we were taking a video of the entire service by phone, so the quality wasn’t that great, but you got the general picture. It was the first time I had ever seen the pope, and it was pretty exciting, especially as we were in the biggest cathedral in the world. It was a bit difficult to see his face as we were far away and were getting jostled around by other tourists taking pictures. 

“Why is he walking around the altar in circles?” I asked. “Is that a pope thing to do?” Clearly not. It must have just been part of the service. I had no clue what my eager mind was thinking then.  

The service was coming to an end, and the pope started giving out bread to people. “It must be so cool being mouth-fed by the pope like that. When do you ever get fed by one of the most important people on earth?” 

I must have been going crackers at this point, but right when we were about to leave, he took off his miter (bishop hat) and revealed a red cap or zucchetto. We quickly searched on Google if the color red meant the pope or not, and we were devastated. All that time, for 30 or more long minutes, we were taking videos and pictures of a cardinal. It turned out, the pope wore white, not red. Second to the pope, the cardinal is still a major figure in the Roman Catholic religion, though. Although we spent a long time observing a person we believed to be the pope, it was still quite interesting seeing a whole church service in the cathedral, the biggest and most important cathedral in the world. 

Walking back on the marble floor, I noticed a room off to the side of the cathedral, so when peering inside, the cardinal was there, getting professional pictures taken for some reason. Quite clearly, it was not the pope. We had plainly not seen the pope that day. Or did we? In the middle of the service, an important-looking figure left the main cathedral by the side door to go elsewhere, and he was surrounded by many other people not to be seen. Who knows, maybe this was him. Perhaps we had seen the pope after all. 

Additional Info

Cost: St. Peter’s Cathedral is free, but the Sistine Chapel and Vatican City Museum (both included) cost 14 Euros. I recommend getting to the Vatican as quickly as possible (around 9 am), as lines quickly get long.

Time It Takes: I recommend spending at least half a day there, if not longer if you’re planning to see the Museum (& Sistine Chapel) as well. The line for the cathedral is shortest during the morning and when everyone is having lunch, and the longest in between those times (around 2 hours).

What Do You See?: The cathedral holds some of the most beautiful and elegant sculptures in the world, including one by Michelangelo himself when he was 23 years old (Pieta). The cathedral itself is one of the most magnificent in the world, and the gold high ceilings and domes, mosaics on walls, and gorgeous marble floors would make you agog. The Sistine Chapel, on the other hand, is magnificent in its own way. It was a chapel designed by Michelangelo, home to the ‘Hand of God’ painting, and the walls and ceiling of this chapel are completely covered by paintings.