Inside The Vatican

It was an excellent presentation. Would recommend it to anyone.

Watched the first hour and plan to watch the second as I recorded it. So glad to see it, as it was very well done. I saw Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square in March 2017 with masses of people. It was quite exciting to see him in his little Popemobile!
And I toured the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica all on that same visit. I was on the RS 7 Days in Rome tour. So amazingly beautiful!

There were so many ways to look at or consider the Vatican in this video! There were opportunities to get some answers to questions such as 'how do they clean up there?' or 'how are they dealing with sex abuse crisis?' or 'what roles do lay women play in the organization?'. And, of course, how is Pope Francis changing the role of the Church in this modern age? So much of it put a 'human' element on the world's biggest religious group. They even allowed ample time for music - the first English speaking Sistine Choir member. And the organized anti-Francis groups. Well worth watching. Will make my next visit to the Vatican even more fulfilling.

I absolutely loved the show. As a Catholic who has visited Rome and been to the Vatican twice, and who attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through freshman year at a Jesuit University, it was great to learn about the day-to-day and nitty-gritty aspects of life in the Vatican. (YES! How they clean the canopy!) The show seemed well-rounded and even-handed.
I was born during WW II and thus have lived through 7 papacies. Pope Francis is my favorite, followed by Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul I. How the papacy has changed in my lifetime and is changing under the leadership of Pope Francis fascinates me. I would love to see another such show in the future, giving even more detail, and perhaps featuring more information on the recently appointed cardinals.
If you missed the show, and are a PBS Passport member, you can watch it online or on your device such as Roku.

Agreed! It was a well-done program that sure beat the heck out of seasonal re-run fare!
Didn't hurt that it came right after "Secrets of the Dead: Building Notre Dame" on our public TV station, either.

I'd love to get a look at the Sala Regia.

Thanks for this info.. I'll need to track down this show. A person can spend a life time studying the Vatican and not know everything about it. Viewer perspective plays a major role as to whether a person has a positive or negative view of the Vatican as well. I'll be looking for this show.

I wholeheartedly agree, it was a great presentation and a useful prequel if our November RS tour of Venice, Florence, and Rome materializes. As a lifetime Catholic and student of European History I Thoroughly enjoyed the show, but learned a lot too.

Viewer perspective plays a major role as to whether a person has a
positive or negative view of the Vatican as well.

My husband and I are not Catholic or even very religious so the core belief system and the practices/rituals don't resonate with us as they do with those of the faith. Understanding how the church influenced history, architecture and the arts, for many centuries, is another matter!

It is available for viewing now on PBS https://www.pbs.org/video/inside-the-vatican-o0uz0h/

Thanks for posting! It’s great to travel back to VC and revisit so many memories of our years in Rome!

Thank you for sharing this, I will check it out online!

Well worth watching. I wish they had pressed the old Italian journalist more on why he was so much in favour of the status quo (pre Francis) and his thoughts on the (fairly) recent troubles which have come to light.

Unfortunately the above link for video is not available for viewing in my region. But I would like to ask a question. How long are the lines in front of entrances for museums? Do you have to wait for hours to get in? I was once in Rome but did not go to Vatican exactly because of such stories. Another thing if someone knows: Can you take a camera (or tripod) inside the museums? I am an amateur photographer and videographer and would like to take a shot or clip of e g Sistine Chapel or Bramante Staircase. Is that possible?

mislavzoranic, what you do to avoid the queue at the museums (Yes, it can be very long, especially during high and shoulder seasons) is to order your ticket in advance from this website:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

If you don't want a guided tour, the ticket you want is this one:

https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=gototipovisitapertag&tag=museibigliettiingresso&weblang=EN

Other ticket options available:
https://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking

Tours offered by private companies are also available but I don't know as I'd recommend a tour at all for the visitor wanting to spend a lot of time with a camera; groups have to move along at a guide's pace.

Rules for visiting the museums are here:
http://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/visita-i-musei/consigli-utili.html

You are allowed to bring your camera for personal-use shooting but as you'll see when you get down to the "Photography at the Vatican Museums" section, flash, tripods and monopods are not allowed, and photography/video of any sort is banned inside the Sistine.

A heads-up in advance about the difficulty of shooting around/over the masses in the busiest parts of the museums.
Obviously, ordering tickets won't be possible until they announce re-opening of the museums.

Hope this answers your questions!

Thanks for posting! It was truly a fascinating journey back to the Vatican. We have fond memories of touring a couple of times.

They definitely mean business about no photography/video in the Sistine Chapel. In my last visit, two persons were removed by security for not stopping after they were warned. It appears you get one warning and then you are out.

Mislavzoranic,
1). If you reserve tickets online for Vatican Museum - you can enter at the appropriate time slot and enter with almost no delay. There is a separate entry point for reserved tickets. Well-worth the reservation! You skip the very long line and take your printed tickets inside to the desk. (You may be able to save your tickets in electronic form now. I was there a number of years ago and used tickets that were printed at home.)
2). The Sistine Chapel was restored by Japan. Japan financed and executed the restoration. As a result, Japan has exclusive rights to all photography in the Sistine Chapel. Trying to take photographs of S.C. without permission (And, I'm sure a lot of paperwork and fees.), will Land you in deep trouble.
I believe you can photograph other areas of the Vatican Museum. But, I'm sure there are some basic rules for photographing art as there are in all art museums due to preservation concerns.

Thank you all for valuable info about photographing in Vatican and Sistine chapel and avoiding long lines

Thank you! Because of your post, I made time to watch it last night and it was truly fascinating. It was so much more than just a tour. Seeing their preparations for Holy Week was something I’ll never get to see in person, but enriched my memories.

I did see the Vatican, program listed but didn't watch based on the description. I would have watched had it been a documentary on the architecture, history and art in the Vatican.

A bit off topic: I started to watch the Notre Dame - Secrets of the Dead presentation and immediately got turned off by the corny GCI. Call me old fashioned. I managed to last 5 minutes.