'Go, Pope. Go!' Popes move by foot, train, plane or car

Published: 2006-07-14

VATICAN CITY (CNS) --If children's author P.D. Eastman had written a sequel to his book "Go, Dog. Go!" about dogs on the move, it could have been about the many ways the pope gets around and would be called "Go, Pope. Go!" Back in the old days, a pope, like many people, was limited to horses and carriages. But he also had the grand "sedia gestatoria," or portable papal throne to move effortlessly through the crowds of the faithful during special ceremonies. The red velvet chair was carried on the shoulders of 12 "sediari" or chair-carriers dressed in bright red uniforms. But the papal throne was mothballed in 1978 after the start of Pope John Paul I's pontificate. Modern-day popes get around by car, train, plane and helicopter. And instead of a special chair powered by 24 legs, they now have the gas-powered popemobile, serving much the same purpose: to raise the Holy Father up above the crowds so he can be seen from afar.

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