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Ciao a tutti,
This week our stories focused on the charismatic figure of Pope John Paul II.
He was the longest-serving pontiff of the 20th century, known as a champion of human rights and for his conservative positions on certain social issues at the same time.
Especially during the last years of his pontiff, catholics and non-catholics admired him for the way he faced his disease (visibly suffering from the slurred speech and trembling hands of Parkinson's Disease) setting an example to all and showing an incredible spiritual strength and dignity.
When Pope John Paul II died in 2005, millions of pilgrims went to his funeral in Rome and chanted "santo subito!", asking for their beloved leader of the Catholic Church to be proclaimed a saint immediately.
This day has finally arrived with the actual beatification ceremony scheduled to take place in Piazza San Pietro in Rome on the 1st of May. We prepared a short guide to help those interested in attending the event in Rome or in following the ceremony from home.
As the Swiss Guards, the soldiers entrusted with guarding the Pope and the Vatican, will be out in full force during the beatification events, we also dedicated a feature to suggest an exclusive tour of the Swiss Guard barracks to learn more about the history of the smallest army in the world.
Finally, we decided the best way to welcome spring was to celebrate Italian gelato, explaining the history and modern developments of this fantastic delicacy. We present it as a dual language article so you can discover more about gelato and work on your Italian language in one go.
Arrivederci a tutti,
ITALY team
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