Flying back to Bologna, after a week in Ireland, the day before Pope John Paul II’s funeral, I expected to be packed tight alongside pilgrims en-route to the Eternal City.
I was, and I wasn’t. That there were pilgrims on-board is certain. That there were unoccupied seats around me is also a fact. I overheard conversations between an Italian and Irish couple, both of which had decided on the spur of the moment to fly in to attend the funeral. At the same time, when they presumed that a nearby couple had similar intentions of going to the funeral they were disapointed. The young couple, with what I may have immagined to have been a slight hint of disdain, responded “no, we’re going to Firenze”.
It’s hard to make sense of Karol Wojtyla’s death. The public response has been beyond all expectations, or perhaps has been the fulfillment of years of expectation?* How much has the extraordinary arrival of millions of the faithful been provoked by the extraordinary media coverage?