We saw the Pope this morning.  He spoke in several languages and we sang our "Women Touched by Grace" song for him.  I am confident he was impressed.  What amazed me was the quiet in the crowd.  There was a palpable sense of awe/reverence/respect I can't really name it but I sure felt it.  Even in our group of Protestants there was a good deal of emotion.  For me it was like seeing a famous person, it held no spiritual content.

Four of us went out for lunch after our audience with Papa.  One of the women, an Episcopal priest, wore her collar.  While there are many, many priests around town and hundreds of nuns in habits and religious brothers, Karen was the first woman any of us had seen in a collar.  People on the street stared in shock.  Little girls clapped and old men looked like they wanted to spit on her.  I thought she was very courageous to wear it.  I did not want to create a spectacle like that myself.

There was a group of Italian men at the table next to us at lunch.  They stared until finally the oldest and bravest of the group turned and asked us where we were from.  Then why we were in Rome and finally why Karen had on the collar of a padre.  She explained to him that in America we have women who are priest and pastors.  They all just shook their heads.  The conversation went on for some time.  The men became more and more engaged, more and more curious and kept asking questions.  When we finished the older gentleman gave Karen a beautiful scarf as a welcome to Rome.

Part of being on pilgrimage is being open to new ideas.  It is being able to ask questions, to wonder, to learn, and to be open to different ways.  I thinks this table of men took a very long pilgrimage today and I appreciated that.