Papal Audience

The Weekly Wednesdays Audience usually starts between 10 - 10.30am depending on the time of year, if you would like to get a good seat you will need to arrive between 8 - 9am.
The audience lasts for around 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
During the Audience the Pope will give speeches in various languages, the main languages being English, French, Spanish, German, Polish, Portugues, Italian amongst others.
English is usually the third language along and at the very end of the audience the Pope imparts a blessing upon the crowd which also extends to those at home that are sick or suffering an also any religious articles you have with such as Rosary beads etc.

You can leave the audience before it finishes but if you wish to receive the blessing you will have to stay until end.

Papal Audience Schedule 2010

• General Audiences
  
  Wednesday 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th
  
  
• Liturgical celebrations
  • Tuesday 2^nd: Vespers with religious, 17:30. Presentation of the Lord. Vatican Basilica
  • Wednesday 17^th: Holy Mass of Ash Wednesday, 17:00. Basilica of Saint Sabina on the Aventine

• General Audiences
  
  Wednesday 3^rd, 10^th, 17^th, 24^th, 31^st
  
  
• Liturgical celebrations
  • Sunday 28^th: Celebration of Palm Sunday: 09:30. St Peter's Square
  • Monday 29^th: Holy Mass on the anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II: 18:00. Vatican Basilica

• General Audiences
  
  Wednesday 7^th, 14^th, 21^st, 28^th
  
  
• Liturgical celebrations
  • Thursday 1^st: Chrism Mass: 09:30. Vatican Basilica
  • Thursday 1^st: Mass of the Lord's Supper: 17:30. Basilica of St John Lateran
  • Friday 2^nd: Celebration of the Lord's Passion: 17:30. Vatican Basilica
  • Friday 2^nd: Stations of the Cross: 21:15. Coliseum
  • Saturday 3^rd: Easter Vigil: 21:00. Vatican Basilica
  • Sunday 4^th: Mass of Easter Sunday: 10:15. St Peter's Square
  • Sunday 4^th: Blessing Urbi et Orbi

• General Audiences
  
  Wednesday 5^th, 19^th, 26^th
  
  
• Liturgical celebrations
  • Sunday 23^rd: Holy Mass of Pentecost: 09:30. Vatican Basilica

• General Audiences
  
  Wednesday 2^nd, 9^th, 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th
  
  
• Liturgical celebrations
  • Thursday 3^rd: Corpus Christi Holy Mass and Procession: 19:00. Basilica of St John Lateran
  • Thursday 10^th: Vigil for Priests. St Peter's Square
  • Friday 11^th: Holy Mass for the conclusion of the Year for Priests: St Peter's Square
  • Sunday 20^th: Priestly Ordinations: 09:30. Vatican Basilica
  • Monday 28^th: First Vespers of the Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul: 18:00. Vatican Basilica
  • Tuesday 29^th: Holy Mass for the Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul: 09:30. Vatican Basilica

July 2010

• Angelus - No Tickets Required
  Sunday: 11th, 18th and 25th at Castel Gandolfo

• General Audiences
  Wednesday 7th at the Vatican,
  (no audiences on Wednesdays 14th, 21st, 28th)
  
  

• Angelus - No Tickets Required
  Sunday: 1st , 8th ,15th, 22nd and 29th at Castel Gandolfo

• General Audiences
  Wednesday 4th at the Vatican,
  Wednesday 11th, 18th, 25th, at the Vatican or Castel Gandolfo. (not confirmed)

• Liturgical celebrations
Sunday 15th Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption, in Castel Gandolfo Parish (reserved for the parishioners)

• Angelus - No Tickets Required
  Sunday: 12th, 26th at Castel Gandolfo
  (5/9: pastoral visit at Carpineto Romano; 19/9: pastoral visit in Great Britain)

• General Audiences
  Wednesday 1th, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th at the Vatican
  
  

• Angelus - No Tickets Required
  Sunday: 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31th at St. Peters Square

• General Audiences
  Wednesday 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th at the Vatican

• Liturgical celebrations
Sunday 10: Papal Mass, in St Peter’s Basilica, for the Opening of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East
Sunday 17: Canonization Mass, in the Vatican
Sunday 24: Papal Mass, in St Peter’s Basilica, for the Closing of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East

• Angelus - No Tickets Required
  Monday: 1st St Peters Square
  Sunday: 7th , 14th ,21st and 28th at St. Peters Square

• General Audiences
  Wednesday 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th at the Vatican,

• Liturgical celebrations
Mass, in St Peter’s Basilica, for the deceased Cardinals and Bishops (no tickets are required)

• Angelus - No Tickets Required
  Sunday: Not Confirmed by the Holy See yet
  

• General Audiences
  Wednesday: Not Confirmed by the Holy See yet
  

• Liturgical celebrations
Not Confirmed by the Holy See yet

Papal Audience Tickets

IF you need less than 10 tickets you can pick up your tickets with out reservation from the Swiss Guards at the "Bronze Door ".   You can collect your tickets 1, 2 or 3 days before (not before) the papal audience/mass with the pope.

If you need more than 10 tickets you should make a reservation in advance if possible.
To reserve in advance   Click Here 

Tickets are entirely free!

You can collect your tickets directly from the Swiss Guards in St. Peter's Square at the "Bronze Door" from 8am till 8pm:

Papal Blessing - Pope on Sundays

The other opportunity to see the Pope is on a sunday at 12 noon when he is in Rome.
He will appear from the window of is apartment where he gives a short speech followed by the Angelus and ending with a blessing He may also greet the crowds in various languages and the whole event usually lasts around15-20mins. He will impart the Apostolic Blessing at the end of the prayer.

You DO NOT need tickets for the Sunday Angelus.

Papal Audience Information & Tips

The Papal Audience is scheduled to start at 10.30am (Sometimes in Summer due to the heat they may start the audience at 10am instead)

However, you will find that most people will arrive early to get a good seat. Security opens between 8 - 8.30am, large numbers tend to arrive between 8.30-9am especially during high season when more people will be attending.

In Summer the audience is usually held in St Peter's Square to accommodate the large crowds, there is a seating area near the front for those with tickets but it is still a first come first served basis so again to get a good seat you should arrive early.

If you are unable to arrive early or get a ticket in advance, again as the the audience is usually held in St Peter's Square during the Summer season it is still possible to access the Square and participate as there is plenty of standing room.

Pope in summer time Holidays

Although the Pope holds the Audiences regularly on Wednesdays there are times when he may be on a Pastoral Visit around Italy or overseas or he may be enjoying the Italian holiday period in his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo during the month of August, in which case the Audiences will not be going ahead.

The Vatican do list the dates of Audiences and events on their website and they normally update it periodically, usually 3 months ahead of any scheduled dates.

You can check the calendar of events by clicking the following link:

http://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/index_en.html

Papal Audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican, Rome

As Rome can get extremely hot in Summer, particularly June, July, August and the Audience is outside it is good to come prepared!. BRING HATS, SUN SCREEN AND WATER, you can also bring something to read or occupy yourself with while you wait for the Audience to start.

You will need to pass through Security scanners similar to the airport to access the audience, it is advisable to bring only small bags or backpacks and Items such as pocket knives, corkscrews, scissors and similar objects will not be permitted through the checkpoint.
Security opens between 8 - 8.30am.

Papal Audience Held at Hall Paul VI, Vatican, Rome

In Winter the audience will be moved indoors to the Hall of Pope Paul VI located to the left of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican as you face the Church behind the Colonnade.

Although there may be less people attending during winter the Hall can only accommodate a certain amount of people so again to get a good seat and to be guaranteed entrance you should arrive when security opens around 8 - 8.30am.

They will not permit entrance even with tickets once the Hall is full.

Papal Audience in Castel Gandolfo

Occasionally in the past during the Holiday period of August/early September the audience has been held in the Pope's Holiday Residence of Castel Gandolfo.

Castel Gandolfo is around 1hr outside of Rome, it is possible to reach there by Public transport but both the buses and trains do not run very often.

You can either take Metro line A to Anagnina Station and from there the Cotral bus to Castel Gandolfo.

You would need to be at Anagnina by 8am to get a bus early enough to get you to the audience on time as again they run very infrequently, almost every 2hrs.

The other option is taking a train from Termini Station and you will need to check the hours but the trains do run more often than the buses.

The Castel Gandolfo train station is located at the bottom of the hill upon which you have the Pope's Palace, you should expect a fairly steep climb to the top.

CLICK ON THE ICON BELOW To See a Timetable Example Roma Termini (Train Station) to Castel Gandolfo "Down Hill" (add 40 minutes walking to the Top):

Alternatively the Pope may reside at Castel Gandolfo and be Helicoptered into Rome for the Audience and back again. Again, a good way to keep updated is to check the Vatican website, although they do make last minute changes!

http://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/index_en.html

Masses at St. Peter's Baslica (Vatican)

You can attend a regular mass at St Peter's Basilica celebrated by Priests from the Vatican (Not the Pope!) on a daily basis.

Monday - Saturday masses are:
7am ; 8am ; 9am ; (sometimes 10am) ; 11am 12pm and at 5pm.

Sunday morning Masses are:
7am ; 8am ; 9am ; *10.30am and 12pm. * The Sunday Solemn Mass is celebrated at 10.30am. To get a seat in the Solemn Mass you will need to be inside the Basilica by 9.30am. You will also need to make allowances for the time it takes to get through security into the church.

Sunday Afternoon Masses:
Start 4pm followed by Vespers at 5pm and concluding with the last mass of the day at around 6pm.

Pontifical Celebrations: Please Note: We do NOT accept ticket requests for Easter Saturday Holy Mass or Christmas Eve midnight Mass as there are not enough tickets provided by the Vatican for us to guarantee a place.
We will however accept requests for other Masses around the Easter and Christmas period but these must be made well in advance as again places are limited.

Pope Schedule 2010- Official Liturgical Calendar

For information of upcoming Masses or Liturgical Celebrations click on the Calendar

To apply directly with the Vatican

Click on
the Icon

Papal Basilicas in Rome

Papal Basilica of Saint Peter - Vatican

Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Basilica of Saint Mary Major

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls