The stern Vatican press officer had been unequivocal: journalists were to assemble at the specified meeting point at 8 a.m. sharp. Anyone arriving late would not be let in.
But it was now almost 10 a.m. and the international press was still cooped in an open-air wooden pen, tucked away from the flickering embers of winter sunshine.
“I bet you they don’t do this at Mecca,” quipped an Irish radio correspondent, digging his hands deeper into his pockets.
The appointment of 22 new cardinals from 13 different countries brought with it a troupe of cameramen, photographers and reporters from around the globe. They came in all colours, shapes and sizes, each with their own idiosyncrasies and pet hates.
A reporter from the New York Times boasted of her familiarity with Islam. Vatican officials perhaps did not hear her, as they soon whisked her away from the plebeian Mass and into a front-row seat.
An Italian photographer had little time for queues, and skipped straight to the front on his own initiative. Several photographers immediately protested: “I’m permanently accredited,” he hissed back with disdain.
As the cardinals’ consistory ceremony got under way, a Canadian radio reporter with a deep baritone voice rang his radio station to file his report. But the glares from those around him were proof that his attempts at whispering were in vain. Spotting an empty confessional, he darted inside and called his editor from there.
While cameramen and photographers shot from specially-positioned press platforms, reporters were consigned to the very back pews on the Basilica’s side.
The distant sight of a Papal staff bobbing up and down as it approached the altar sent them into wails of despair.
Quick thinking by a New York Daily News reporter saved the day. Laptop and smart phone at the ready, she went online and hooked up to the Vatican’s live feed. Other journalists soon followed, and within minutes several members of the public had crowded around, watching the Cardinals seated 50 metres ahead of them on a 13-inch laptop screen.
When the Pope offered up the Eucharist, several members of the press got down on their knees. “I almost feel guilty I’m not religious,” whispered one photographer to the other, “but then I remember they’re missing all the best shots.”