The Holy See
I didn’t get much time to sightsee in Rome, but on my first evening in the city I found myself, somewhat by chance, walking west on the Via della Conciliazione at sundown. I hadn’t planned it that way, but the timing was perfect.
It was about 6 PM when we arrived at St. Peter’s Square, and instantly the setting impressed. And it should: the entire area was designed to make you feel as if you are in the presence of God. But that in itself doesn’t set this place apart from other Gothic or Renaissance cathedrals. The difference here is the colonnade. These sweeping sets of columns, four rows deep, extend out from St. Peter’s Basilica and meet you as you enter the plaza.
This is Vatican City. The intended effect is clear: the outstretched arms of God welcoming you into His house. I’m not much for object worship, or placing undue importance on something made of stone by mere men (though in this case those “men” were Bernini and Michelangelo). Still, the setting is powerful. With the sun setting behind the cathedral, reds and pinks reflecting off the smooth stone of the plaza, and long shadows stretching out from the pillars, the scene was one I cannot justly recreate in words.
A Spiritual Encounter
I’m not sure if God literally met me there that evening, or if the colonnade was His arms or simply a representation of them (there’s a little transubstantiation joke in there for you Reformation scholars!). But whatever it was, it was a spiritual experience in the truest sense.
It’s not difficult to understand why thousands flock to this plaza to hear Mass from a mere mortal, and with this backdrop, feel certain he is an envoy of God. I’ve never been so emotionally moved—perhaps even manipulated—by bricks and stone in my life. I was taken away, and I loved it.
Inside St. Peter’s and the Sistine Chapel
Of course, a post about the Vatican would be incomplete without mention of the inside of St. Peter’s or the Sistine Chapel. After that quiet evening outside, with only a few of us taking in the scene at sundown, I returned a few days later to see the interior.
Yes, it was impressive. Yes, it was incredible to finally see in person what I had only read about or seen in books since childhood. But the crowds, the noise, the hurried nature of it all made the serenity of the plaza at sundown a much more memorable alternative. Perhaps it was also the guards (not the strikingly dressed Swiss Guards) who constantly barked “No pictures!” in English at the unresponsive crowd. Everyone there seemed to have the same mentality: “I traveled halfway across the world to see this—I’m taking a picture whether you like it or not.” And so the cycle continued.
The Vatican’s Lasting Impression
During my time in Rome, especially at La Sapienza’s campus in conversations with skeptics and believers alike, I became even more aware that the Vatican and the papacy have always been and will remain the source of immense controversy. But nothing about the Vatican itself is controversial. It is simply incredible.
To my untrained architectural eyes, it is one of the most impressive structures ever built by human hands. A fitting setting for such an important crossroads in the history of the world.
