Conveniently for me, Alessandra’s parents live near the Vatican. On Sunday, we took a mid-morning stroll to St. Peter’s to hear the pope give his weekly update. He said he had just baptized a child, something he loves doing, and announced some new cardinals. A cheer erupted when Pope Francis (in Italian, his name is Papa Francesco) announced a Brazilian cardinal and he laughed and made a joke about the large number of Brazilians in attendance.

In the beginning, I could hear him well but then the people around me – thousands packed the square – started jostling and grumbling that they didn’t have a good enough view to take photos. Come on, audience! Can’t we stand still for one minute on Sunday and listen?

If you squint, perhaps you can see him speaking from the open window. In real life, we could see him quite well.