Cardinals in red vestments stand in the Sistine Chapel before the fresco “The Last Judgment”.

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Rome

Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel compared with an Easter service in an old Russian church

An impressive spectacle of cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. Yet, if we speak of the aesthetic side of the matter, the Easter service in any ancient Russian church looks considerably more majestic

Two firefighters in helmets work on a tiled roof above a large square with a colonnade.

NB! · Faith · Observations · Rome · Humour

The conclave has begun, and the author hopes its sessions will be long

A reminder that the conclave has begun. I do hope they will sit there a good while longer and give the matter proper thought

The Sistine Chapel with a metal framework and protective layer on the floor, and the fresco “The Last Judgement” on the far wall.

Faith · Observations · Heritage · Rome · Humour

A Second Floor Level Is Being Built in the Sistine Chapel to Protect the Historic Pavement During the Conclave

A False Floor Goes Up in the Sistine Chapel, and Then We Shall Be Told: Heaven forbid, no under-the-carpet manoeuvres! The floor of the Sistine Chapel has been covered with a protective layer, and a platform is being erected on top of it to serve as a second

Faith · Books · Observations · Rome

The photographer's work was far harder and far more interesting before the invention of drones

A photograph from the book Inside the Vatican, on the life of the theocratic state under John Paul II, with photographs by James Stanfield

Faith · Cinema · Observations · Rome

I agree with the view that the ostentatious modesty of the papacy, and of Francis's pontificate in particular, turns out, once you start looking into it, to be nothing more than a set of marketing ploys and slogans

The phenomenon is nicely captured in the series “The Young Pope” with Jude Law, in which one of the most important figures in the hierarchy is not a spiritual office at all but something like a PR director

Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Rome

Pope Francis buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome's oldest church of the Virgin Mary

Before Santa Maria Maggiore, where Pope Francis was laid to rest yesterday, there were, naturally, queues many hours long. It is one of the four major basilicas of Rome, but despite its pilgrimage status, large queues did not usually gather here outside the church festivals. Now, I suspect, the beaten

Faith · Society · People · Rome

Funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican on 26 April and burial at Santa Maria Maggiore

How the funeral of Pope Francis went today, 26 April 2025. Pope Francis died on the morning of 21 April in the Vatican of a stroke and heart failure. In the evening the rite of certifying death and placing the body in the coffin was performed. On 22 April official

NB! · Faith · Society · People · Rome

Pope Francis Is Buried Today

Faith · Society · Nature · Rome

The Red Wind in Rome on the day of Pope John Paul II's funeral, 8 April 2005

On 8 April 2005, the day of Pope John Paul II's funeral, a sudden strong wind fell upon Rome, and for a time the Vatican became one solid human mass shaken by the gusts of the elements. The phenomenon went down in history as the Red Wind. Red,

Archaeology · Museums · Rome

A Two-Headed Snake Bracelet from One of the Most Elegant Houses in Pompeii Is Adorned with a Disc Depicting the Moon Goddess Luna/Selene, Wearing a Crescent Diadem and Surrounded by Seven Stars, Her Head Covered with a Crescent-Shaped Veil

The bracelet was so astonishing a find that the place where it was discovered came to be called the House of the Golden Bracelet. It was found on the arm of a woman who, apparently, had tried to escape the catastrophe by flight. Another fugitive was carrying caskets of gold

NB! · Faith · Books · People · Rome

Before taking his degrees in philosophy and theology, Pope Francis took a degree in food chemistry

Before taking his degrees in philosophy and theology, Pope Francis took a degree in food chemistry. The subject of food production, papal-style, is explored in the book “Tavola con Papa Francesco” (“A Table with Pope Francis”), “tavola” meaning the gathering around the table.

NB! · Art · Rome