Trivia
Who was Pope John II?
Pope John XX never was. To correct an error in sequence in the tenth century, the Vatican passed over "John XX". The name John has been the most popular (and unlucky) of all the papal names. Altogether, there were 22 Pope Johns - the last being Pope John XXIII. Before him, no pope had taken the John name for almost seven centuries, probably because of the misfortune associated with the name in Vatican history. For instance, Pope John VII was killed by members of his family in 882. Deposed, Pope John XI died in prison in 935. John XII was beaten to death by the irate husband of a woman suspected of being a papal mistress.
What is the pope's salary?
When a ranking cardinal wins an election to the Seat of Saint Peter, he earns, in effect, a promotion - but with a reduction in pay to zero. Incredible but true: The Holy Father receives not a penny in pay. Also astonishing: the pope does not have a bank account.
Which pope gave his name to a popular egg dish?
Eggs Benedict got its name from Pope Benedict XIII, who favoured this dish for breakfast during the years he reigned (1724 - 1730)
Which Cardinal was fluent in 39 languages?
Father Giuseppe Gaspare Mezzofanti, as a parish priest in Bologna, was assigned the difficult job of hearing the final confessions of two young Germans sentenced to die in 24 hours - and the young cleric could not understand the language the men spoke. So that night, Mezzofanti set himself down and studied from books on hand the language of the two condemned men - and learned German well enough to preside at the confession and understand fully what the two said.
That started Father Mezzonfanti (born in 1774) off on one of the most peculiar hobbies imaginable: He learned as many languages as he could, studying months upon months without a break. By the time he became Cardinal Mezzofanti and was working in the Vatican, he was sufficiently fluent in 39 languages to carry on in-depth conversations with native speakers.
Cardinal Mezzofanti's languages, in alphabetical order, were Albanian, Algonquin, Amarinna, Arabic, Armenian (ancient), Armenian (modern), Basque, Bohemian, Chaldee, Chinese, Chippewa Indian, Coptic, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, French, German, Greek, Guzarati, Hebrew, Hebrew (Rabbinical), Hindusatni, Illyrian, Italian, Latin, Magyar, Maltese, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanic, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Syriac, Turkish, and Walachian.
The Cardinal - who became known in his day as "the greatest linguist of all time" - also had a good working knowledge of the following languages but did not speak them as fluently as he wished: Angolese, Bulgarian, Chilean, Gaelic, Georgian, Koordish, Mexican, Pegu, Peruvian, Serbian, and Welsh.
And he also understood and could read the following languages - but he would not admit to being able to speak any of them: Aramaic, Bimbarra, Burmese, Cochin-Chinese, Singhalese, Cornish, Frisian, Irish, Icelandic, Japanese, Lappish, Lettish, Oceanian, Malay, Quechua, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Tonquinese.
In addition, the record shows, Cardinal Mezzofanti had a thorough working knowledge of 37 dialects.
Mezzofanti also maintained that the most difficult language to learn was Basque. Moreover, he firmly believed that his own native language (Italian) was the most beautiful of all languages - and English the most expressive. He was on record as having said that quality Italian (as used by Dante) and quality English (as used by Shakespeare) were unmatchable by any other language.
Why is the Pietà Michelangelo's only signed sculpture
Michelangelo's famous Pietà marble statue of the dead Christ lying on His mother's knees, which graces the first chapel on the right inside St. Peter's Basilica, is the only work he ever signed. The young sculptor, 22 years old at the time, had overheard two travellers one day attributing his supreme masterpiece to a third-rate artist from Lombardy. Angered, he sneaked into the church one night and by candlelight chiselled a message on the diagonal band that crosses Mary's torso: MICHAEL. ANGELUS. BONAROTUS. FLORENT. FACIEBAT. (Translations: Michelangelo Buonarotti. Florentine. Made This.)
What has been accomplished by Vatican astronomers?
Vatican astronomers, whose history goes back to the sixteenth century, have recorded positions of more than 500,000 stars in a ten volume catalogue. One astronomer (Father Pietro Angelo Secchi) invented the meteorograph, which automatically records barometric pressure and temperature at the same time.
Where is Rome's most notable keyhole?
One of Rome's least known attractions is a keyhole. Through it you can see three countries at the same time - one of which is the State of Vatican City. The keyhole is to be found on the Aventino Hill in a villa belonging to the Sovereign and Military Order of Malta (S. M. O. M.), which is one of the smallest countries in the world and is located near the Spanish Steps in a parcel of land on the Via Condotti (at Number 68). Closely allied to the Roman Catholic Church and run by papal officers, S. M. O. M. - with a population of 80 - mints its own money in the form of gold and silver coins and prints postage stamps in the denominations of grano and tari. In the S. M. O. M. Aventino villa, which is not open to visitors, you can peek through the keyhole of the door to a high-walled garden - and what you immediately see is the entire dome of St. Peter's Basilica perfectly framed in the distance. At the same time, you are looking at three countries - Italy, S. M. O. M., and the State of Vatican City.
What is the La Terra di Nessuno?
There is apiece of land in Vatican City that belongs to nobody - neither to Italy nor to the Vatican. The 1,641 feet of territory snuggled between the two countries is called La Terra di Nessuno (No Man's Land) and is one of those geographical curiosities that somehow escapes attention.
No Man's Land can be seen in plain view from afar - it is the Corridoio di Castello (Corridor of the Castel), the corridor built in the thirteenth century by Pope Nicholas III, which stretches from the Castel Sant'Angelo to the Vatican. During the Middle Ages, the narrow link was used by the popes whenever they had to flee for their lives from the Vatican to the circular-shaped Castel Sant'Angelo (the former mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian, which was converted into a fortress).
The covered corridor was used last by Pope Clement VII on May 6, 1527, as the mercenary armies of King Charles V zeroed in on the Vatican and the explosion of canon was heard on the very steps of Saint Peter's.
How can one experience an optical illusion in St. Peter's Square?
Here's a tip about something 99 percent of the people who visit St. Peter's Square overlook completely. There are two black marble discs imbedded in the pavement, both of which are just a few feet from each of the fountains. Position yourself on one disc and cast your eyes on the four rows of Bernini colonnades - hey! - now you only see one row, the front row. The other rows disappear! Step off the disc, and three other rows of columns suddenly are visible, as if by magic. This now-you-see-it / now-you-don't optical illusion is a mark of Bernini's mathematical genius.
Where does the word Vatican come from and what does it mean?
The word derives from the Latin vates, which means "tellers of the future." This was the name given to a hillside on the west bank of the Tiber River in Rome because daily lineups of fortune tellers used to hawk their "wares" there to passersby on the street. In the fourteenth century, when the papacy was returned to Rome from Avignon (France), the present day Vatican became the residence of the popes, and the word came to refer to the enclave in the middle of Rome that had become the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.
What happens to the thousands of gifts the pope receives from admirers?
Except for art objects, which go into one of the Vatican museums, nearly all the gifts (e.g. camcorders and other equipment) are distributed to families of limited economic means.
Why is red the colour of the cardinals?
The princes of the Roman Catholic Church are the cardinals, and they are immediately distinguished by the brilliant red of their waist sashes, skull caps, and stockings; they also often wear red cassocks and on special occasions red silken cloaks and a voluminous red train, which is draped over the arms as an ancient Roman would his toga. Red became the cardinal colour over 500 years ago, when a Venetian-born pope, Paul II, who loved magnificence and pomp, first put his cardinals into red, a deep red, halfway between scarlet and crimson. At the time, Paul II was himself wearing red all the time. When Pius V was elected pope in 1566, he started a pontifical practise of wearing white as the usual garb. The cardinals have worn red since 1465, and the colour has become symbolic of a willingness to shed blood for one's faith.
Source: The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts & Papal Curiosities by N. L. Bello
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