Drive an hour out of Rome and you’re already in the snow. John Paul II honed in on that fact as Holy Father and hit the hills out in the Abruzzi for some winter skiing.
Archbishop Dziwisz, then the Pope's secretary, recounted in his work 'A Life with Karol' how they would sneak past the Swiss Guards so they wouldn't know the Pope was leaving: "As the vehicle left the pope's residence at Castel Gandolfo, another Polish priest in the passenger seat 'pretended to read a newspaper in order to hide the Holy Father,' who was sitting in the back of the car with Dziwisz." (From: Pope John Paul II Hit the Ski Slopes Incognito.)
We didn’t have to get past any guards to return to the same hills, but Father Bill and I did appreciate the short drive.
And the short lines that come from skiing midweek.
Once we hit the slopes you could see they still had high class visitors today: here Mary scans the descent from the summit:
Conditions were ideal with fresh powder, and though it was sunny when we arrived it looked like more was on the way.
With plenty of runs to choose from, it was a happy discovery that the one we spent the most time on had been renamed Giovanni Paolo II—run number 16.
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2 comments:
It sounds like the secretary in your parish this fall better be pretty alert.
Ditto, Grandfather Brown.
Although I'm sure he'll find many willing accomplices to read the paper while hiding him...
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