So PF (that's short for Pope Francis) has brought the Jubilee year to an end.
The press here in Italy are referring to it as being a pretty massive flop. They've labelled it as being the Low Cost Pilgrimage particularly because it failed to attract anywhere near the number of visitors the Vatican expected.
The City of Rome had high expectations for the event and its hospitality industry was at the ready to welcome to the tens of millions of visitors that the Vatican expected. That didn't happen though. Visitor numbers to Rome were pretty much identical to the year before.
But a lot has happened in Rome between the Jubilee year beginning and ending. Notably, Rome's administration is now under Virginia Raggi and the populist political group Cinque Stelle [5 Star Movement], who, in addition to campaigning against the old guard, are trying to manage the city of Rome by applying a lot of really unpopular austerity measures.
Romans are up in arms about Raggi and the incompetence of the movement, and the political group is also not really making a lot of friends in high places.
In announcing the end of the Jubilee year, the Vatican spokesman, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, thanked a number of institutions including the region of Lazio for its support.
His exact words, as reported by the Repubblica Newspaper:
"un sincero ringraziamento va anche alla Regione Lazio per avere approntato un servizio di sanità e pronto soccorso all'altezza dell'evento"
[Translated: A sincere thanks to the Region of Lazio for having provided health and emergency response services to a level on par with the significance of the event...]
But when he quite notably omitted The City of Rome from his acknowledgements, journalists at the press conference asked whether or not he'd simply forgotten to thank them for their support. After all, you can't get to the Vatican without passing through Rome [or using its network of services]. His response?
"Il mio testo parla chiaro". [Translated: My text was very clear].
Ouch. Guess no nighttime prayers for Raggi and co.
If you can read Italian, you'll find an article about the Vatican's press conference here.
For an analysis about the perceived flop of the Jubilee year in English, go here.
The press here in Italy are referring to it as being a pretty massive flop. They've labelled it as being the Low Cost Pilgrimage particularly because it failed to attract anywhere near the number of visitors the Vatican expected.
The City of Rome had high expectations for the event and its hospitality industry was at the ready to welcome to the tens of millions of visitors that the Vatican expected. That didn't happen though. Visitor numbers to Rome were pretty much identical to the year before.
But a lot has happened in Rome between the Jubilee year beginning and ending. Notably, Rome's administration is now under Virginia Raggi and the populist political group Cinque Stelle [5 Star Movement], who, in addition to campaigning against the old guard, are trying to manage the city of Rome by applying a lot of really unpopular austerity measures.
Romans are up in arms about Raggi and the incompetence of the movement, and the political group is also not really making a lot of friends in high places.
In announcing the end of the Jubilee year, the Vatican spokesman, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, thanked a number of institutions including the region of Lazio for its support.
His exact words, as reported by the Repubblica Newspaper:
"un sincero ringraziamento va anche alla Regione Lazio per avere approntato un servizio di sanità e pronto soccorso all'altezza dell'evento"
[Translated: A sincere thanks to the Region of Lazio for having provided health and emergency response services to a level on par with the significance of the event...]
But when he quite notably omitted The City of Rome from his acknowledgements, journalists at the press conference asked whether or not he'd simply forgotten to thank them for their support. After all, you can't get to the Vatican without passing through Rome [or using its network of services]. His response?
"Il mio testo parla chiaro". [Translated: My text was very clear].
Ouch. Guess no nighttime prayers for Raggi and co.
If you can read Italian, you'll find an article about the Vatican's press conference here.
For an analysis about the perceived flop of the Jubilee year in English, go here.
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