Meeting/seeing the Pope

Do you have RS Rome book?
I have an old one but he does cover how to see the Pope in it. (In my book it is not listed in Index but the info is in the St Peter's section)
It will be very crowded for Sunday audience and time-consuming I can tell you that!
For the Wednesday audience you need to request tix, pick them up, etc

My daughter is a huge admirer of Pope Francis, she was in Trastevere a few years ago and had the surprise of her life when the Pope showed up at S Maria Trastevere- she had no idea it was scheduled. Highlight of her trip.

You can find the Pope's schedule for October on the official Vatican website. Click on Audiences and then select the month. The Wednesday morning general audience is a good opportunity to see the Pope. He'll ride around the piazza in his Pope Mobile starting about a half hour before the audience officially begins. You don't need tickets to be outside the barriers, but you will need to allow for adequate time to get through the security screening. If all you're interested in is seeing the Pope, you could leave after he drives by rather than staying for the audience. Leaving early would be more difficult if you were in the ticketed seats inside the barriers. There's also a Sunday Angelus, but I haven't been to one of those with the new Pope and so can't comment on how it works. With John Paul II, he simply gave an address from the window of the Papal apartment.

Thanks Christine and Frank, I do have the RS book and I've been on the Papal Audience website where I learned you actually do not need a ticket for the audience, per Pope Francis, declaration. (which I'm sure that people that handle crowds/logistics just love!) He is "in town" on both the Sunday and Wednesday that we will be in Rome. I appreciate the info on first hand experience. The information I do have so far is that people get there up to 3 hours early and there is an address of approximately 1 hour in Latin. So that to me, is a huge time commitment and given we are with the tour, we probably don't have the time.

Oh- isn't that nice!

where I learned you actually do not need a ticket for the audience, per Pope Francis, declaration<<

Jules, I hope you get to see Pope Francis. I did not attend a Papal Audience but, I saw him last December in St. Peter's Basilica (I got an invite to the celebration Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe)

When I returned home, I was so surprised to learn it was recorded. So, I can relive that evening over and over. The music was stunning. I will never forget it. Papa Francisco walking down St. Peter's Basilica - surreal and unreal - all the clergy in tow.

The Pope officiated the Mass. Quite beautiful. He has such a gentle aura about him. Definitely a people's Pope.

Also, on December 8th, I caught a glimpse of him at Piazza di Spagna - he makes his way down from St. Peter's after he gives a Blessing, then hops in his Pope Mobile and heads to the piazza. He "lays" a laurel wreath at the Column to celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Jules,
I went on the RS Rome tour and our guide announced that Weds. there would be a time to see the Pope in St. Peter's Square. She asked who was interested and she procured the tickets for those of us who wanted to go. Also, helped give us directions to the Square. It was a terrific experience! I'm not Catholic but I do admire him. My companions and I arrived early and we had decent seats to view him coming in his little Popemobile. It was an exciting moment and we talked with people from all over the world. A nice memory.
Go, you will enjoy it!

If at all possible do it. My husband and I attended an audience in September 2013. Yes we arrived couple hours early so we could get decent seats. Watched Pope ride around in his popemobile and we stayed thru most of the service. It was amazing and probably our favorite European experience. We aren’t Catholic either. The excitement of the crowd is contagious and the love for this Pope is incredible.

I arrived less than a hour before the general audience and found a spot near the barrier where I was able to take some great photos of the Pope driving by. I suspect the people arriving 3 hours early are those wanting the best seats inside the barriers, but there's no need to arrive that early if you plan to stand outside the barriers. The entire audience lasts about an hour with readings in many languages, possibly tailored around which groups of faithful are visiting on a particular day. There was even a reading in Arabic the last time I was there. However the Pope's address is only about 10 minutes, delivered primarily in Italian with short greetings in other languages. My recollection is that it came near the end of the audience, but it could have been earlier. Pope Francis did walk down to greet some people in the front rows of seats, but I believe those people were all special guests and dignitaries. Hope this additional information is helpful.

I'm not Catholic, so its not a priority, but I do admire him, so
unless if it was difficult and time consuming, I might be interested.

Jules, I think what you might want to consider, beside the time element involved, is that there will be many devout attendees in attendance for whom receiving a blessing from/possible glimpse of the Holy Father might be THE priority of their trips? For the Catholic visitor, this ceremony will mean much more to them than it may mean to you. While an agnostic admirer of Pope Francis myself, I guess I feel like those folks deserve the chance of that glimpse more than I do so I would hesitate to take up space. Or the BEST space, anyway. :O)

No right or wrong to it, just one way to weigh some deciding factors?

I think you need to be realistic here - chances are high that you will SEE the Pope, but chances are extremely low that you will MEET the Pope. Just keep that in mind. St. Peter's is absolutely MOBBED when he is present. It's mobbed when he's not present, but it's REALLY mobbed when he's there.

Kathy, that's a good point, though basically an unlimited number of people can go since a ticket isn't necessary.

Jules,
We did need a ticket (in April 2017) but they are free, our RS guide obtained them for us. Yes, it is mobbed in St. Peter’s Square but it was worth it to us from the tour who went. Weds. morning is free time so you won’t miss out on a scheduled activity.

We will be in Rome at the end of October. It sounds like there is both an indoor and outdoor location. Has anyone attended in the indoor location.

Judy, I know it seems odd, but on the Perfecture's Papal Audience website, it says that Pope Francis says all are welcome.

http://www.papalaudience.org/

By using "best " seats, I meant the ones in the ticketed area. Regardless of what the website says, I have a difficult time believing they'd allow unticketed visitors access to the area unless they have extra tickets. There's only so much space, and if they let anyone and everyone in, there would be no sense in tickets, right? Running out of seats* would be unfortunate for the people who ordered tickets and need a chair to get through the service.

(*) They do say that having a ticket doesn't insure a seat if one arrives late so going very early is advised.

For sure, visitors are plenty welcome to stand outside of it, which might be what the website means. Again, no wrong or right but if you want a seat, I'd order tickets.

As Frank did, I know others who went on a whim, just stood by the barriers, and got a great photo. That can actually be a better viewing point while he travels the "roads" by Popemobile, versus a seat that's in the center of a large seating section.