Papal Audience at St. Peter's

How to get tickets to hand with his Holiness on St. Peter's Square in Rome, Italy

The former pope granting a papal audience.

The former pope (John Paul II) granting his weekly papal audience.

Papal audience at the Vatican
Piazza San Pietro
www.vatican.va

Write or fax 6 weeks ahead for tickets:
Prefettura della Casa Pontifica
Città del Vaticano
00120 ITALIA
fax. +39-06-6988-5863

Wednesdays only, 10am

Viator.com tours
• Audience with Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican City (includes transport/bus tour to Vatican)
• Papal Audience Tickets and Presentation (includes a guide to explain the history of the Papacy, etc.)
• Papal Blessing at Castelgandolfo Day Trip from Rome (summer only)

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Tickets are free for the weekly mass audiences held in Piazza San Pietro in front of St. Peter's every Wednesday around 10am (sometimes 9am in summer—to beat the heat).

Keep in mind, you'll be just one in a horde of thousands filling the plastic chairs in Piazza San Pietro (or, in the dead of winter or during inclement weather, in a grand audeince hall).

Now, I haven't been to an event with the Big Guy since Benedict XVI took over—last time I elbowed in with the crowds was back in John Paul II's day, during the summer of Jubilee Year 2000—but supposedly things still work pretty much the same way.

(Also, Benedict seems to be upholding JPII's tradition of decamping to the Papal palace in Castelgandolfo, south of Rome, for a few weeks each summer, so audiences may not necessarily run year-round—though in 2010 at least, Benedict did hold blessings in Castelgandolfo on Sundays in summer.)

What the weekly papal audience is like

The Blessing of Your Stuff
Make sure you bring something you want to have sanctified during the mass blessing the Pope performs as part of the ceremony. Most folks bring (or buy from a nearby gift shop) a handful of little Crucifix necklaces, either for themselves or to give to Catholic friends back home. Last time I went, I brought my group of Boy Scouts to the event—partly because it would be neat, but mostly because it was a Jubilee Year and they, being teenage boys, certainly could use the soul-cleansing. However, I forgot to bring anything to get blessed. In a moment of inspiration, as the Pope flung his blessing over the crowd, I held aloft my plastic bottle of water. It now sits in my fridge, with a hastily scribbled note around the top in Sharpie marker: "Holy Water: Do Not Drink."

The Pope usually wheels around the crowd filling St. Peter's Square his Plexi-glass Popemobile for a little while before heading to the steps to the basilica, which serve as his stage for the event.

His Holiness sits upon a bishop's throne to oversee the ceremony—which consists largely of ecclesiastical flunkies reading out a list of groups in attendance that day, pausing for each to clap and cheer when their name is called.

There are also Jumbotron TV screens connected to cameras trained on His Holiness the whole time—to most of the crowd, the real thing is a white dot waaay at the other end of the piazza.

How to get tickets to attend the papal audience

Pick up tickets in person: You can get tickets at the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household (tel. +39-06-6988-4857), which is just through the bronze doors at the start of the curving part of the colonnade on the right side of Piazza San Pietro.

For more on all things Papal, visit the virtual Holy See at www.vatican.va.

Get tickets by mail: Either write (address: Prefettura della Casa Pontifica, Città del Vaticano, 00120 ITALIA) or fax (+39-06-6988-5863), at least two weeks ahead of time—six weeks if you want to be sure the postal service gets them there and back in time.
Tell them how many tickets you need: Be sure you specify your name, nationality, number of tickets you need, your home address, and the date you want to attend (remember: Wednesdays only).
Book a Papal Audience: If you prefer to let someone else handle the logistics of getting tickets—plus get a short sightseeing tour of Rome on a bus that leaves from near the train station and wends its way across Rome to St. Peters—you can also book the papal audience experience via our partner site Viator.com.

     • Audience with Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican City (includes transport/bus tour to Vatican)
     • Papal Audience Tickets and Presentation (includes a guide to explain the history of the Papacy, etc.)
     • Papal Blessing at Castelgandolfo Day Trip from Rome (summer only)

St. Peter's basilica
Vatican Museums
Churches in Rome
Castelgandolfo (the pope's summer residence)

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Papal Audience at St. Peter's

What the weekly papal audience is like

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