Pope, at audience, adapts to relaxed pace of August in Italy

Published: 2004-08-04

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II welcomed an estimated 3,500 visitors to the courtyard of his summer residence, hosting a shortened, almost intimate version of his weekly general audience. For the Aug. 4 audience, the courtyard of the villa at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, was packed; some guests were crowded in the doorway and others spilled out into the small town square. While the pope continued his series of talks about psalms and canticles used in the church's evening prayer, the Vatican decided to shorten the gathering by skipping the usual summaries of the pope's talk in French, English, German, Spanish and Polish. Still, the pope stayed in the courtyard for about an hour, greeting dozens of pilgrims one by one and posing for group photographs, including one with the "Harmonie Musikgesellschaft," a band from Hochdorf, Switzerland, that played during the audience.

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