Leaving Rimini

After final farewells, especially to Carlo and Meg, as well as Fra Mauro (our Obi Wan Kenobi), I have set off for Rome by train. Right now (Saturday lunchtime) I'm travelling at around 200kmph on the EuroStar service between Bolonga and Rome. I prebooked my seats earlier this week as a precaution, because lots of people are heading home at the end of the holiday season. As it happens, there is plenty of room in the carriage.

I'm glad I will have some time to think about everything that has happened over the last 11 days. There is a huge amount to absorb, and though I'm not exhausted at all, I am a bit tired.

On to Rome.

Scepticism refuted

There seems to be scepticism in some quarters that I actually sang to a crowd of over 100 people! I anticipated this and here is some photographic evidence.

Josh from Melbourne will vouch for me!

Friday at the Meeting

I didn't spend a lot of time at presentations today, but spent the day catching up to people. Frank and Margaret were at the Meeting for a few hours today, so we had lunch together.

They have been having a great time in Italy, and Malta is next on the list for Margaret. They'll be back in Melbourne later September/early October.

In other news, I met up with Emilio from the CL group who visited us in Melbourne. Here he is with his friend Veronica.

He send his greetings to everyone in CL Melbourne, especially the WYD pilgims.

I also had my last dinner with the Fidenza people tonight. I saw Beatrice and wished her the best, and she renews her love to all of you.

Tomorrow morning I'll take the 10:40am train from Rimini to Bolonga, and get the express to Rome from there.

Grappa

No explanation necessary.

Vitamin N

Below, the Italians get some essential Vitamin N. Apparently it's necessary for the Italian metabolism.

Charles the Great

Here's a photo of Carlo and his wife Meg, along with Fr John of Burma. I'm not sure if her name really is Meg, or whether this is a concession to my atrocious Italian pronunciation.

There seems to be very little that Carlo cannot do here in Rimini. Every big meeting, we get front row seats by some mysterious process. Lifts and food materialise without apparent effort.

Carlo, he da Man! Capische?

Thursday morning: Waters and Allam

This morning we all went to a presentation by John Waters of the Irish Times and Magdi Allam of the Corriere della Sera. I met Waters briefly at La Thuile; is a quiet type, with longish hair and a receding hairline, a typical Irish poet.

Allam is another type altogether, mercurial and forthright. Last year, he converted from Islam and was baptised personally by the Pope. Now a critic of Islam, he arrived with a security detail of about 10 armed guards.

Waters spoke about the pressure of modernity on genuine Christian belief, his past alcoholism, and his return from despair. He wrote an article in a recent Traces in which he described the death of one of his colleagues at the Irish Times, and her despair in the weeks before her death. Despite her recognition that beauty pointed to something Other, she could not believe that included her. In his article, he described her final interview as being like "the cry of an animal in the forest", a chilling phrase that I will never forget. An animal cries, but it expects no answer.

Allam's talk was about his experience of Islam and his final decision, in the wake of the Pope's Regensburg speech on faith and religion (and the Muslim violence that answered it), to abandon an Islam that he realised could never really be reconciled to human rights. He has said this before; and that is why he needs the guards.