Unlike pesky paparazzi, pope's photographers snap coolly, with class

Published: 2007-05-04

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- They are not pushy or pesky; rather, the pope's own paparazzi are the epitome of discretion and class. Vatican photographers stand out from other media shutterbugs, not just because they're always dressed in ironed dark suits and ties, but because, coolly clicking away, they are the ones standing right next to the pope. The papal photographers are also the only ones allowed to shadow the pontiff almost everywhere he goes, even during more private moments -- be they special audiences inside the Vatican with heads of state or an intimate luncheon with cardinals or bishops. According to the head of the Vatican's photo service, Salesian Father Giuseppe Colombara, the job of the four official papal photographers is to create a visual record of the pope's activities and important Vatican events. With the click of a shutter, photographers immortalize an "unrepeatable masterpiece of an instant," he said.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .