The POPE is Coming to Brindisi, Italy

The Pope is coming to Brindisi June 14 & 15! That probably means little to nothing to YOU the reader because you don't live in Italy -- let alone Brindisi. But the POPE - by the way that would be Pope Benedict XVI (aka Joseph Ratzinger, aka the Big Manor the Man standing NEXT to the Big MAN) coming to Brindisi would be like President Bush announcing he is going to visit Barnard, Vermont. Or like the Rolling Stones announcing they are going to put on a show in Juneau, Alaska. In other words, it makes no sense. But you better believe I'm gonna be standing in line to listen to what the Pope has to say.

Speaking of Brindisi, let me go on record as saying I like Brindisi. I really do. If you'd have asked me 20 years ago if I like this town I'd have probably rolled my eyes and asked when the next train heading north was leaving. But now that I have a young daughter and a cat, I kind of like the fact that she (my daughter not my cat) can go downtown and walk with her friends and I don't have to worry about her being kidnapped or worse. The same things that bored me two decades ago I really enjoy now. No disgruntled postal workers, no pissed off students barricaded in a high school because they didn't get a prom date. You get the idea.

So the Pope is coming to town. My question is why? Pope Benedict can have the pick of the litter when it comes to visits. In fact, according to the Catholic Times, Brindisi is just one of several stops the Pope will make in 2008. Among other standout locations, the Pope will travel to Washington DC April 16 and celebrate his 81^st birthday, on that day he's scheduled to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House and with U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. (Wasn't the Immaculate Conception something Franco Harris did in the Super Bowl a few years ago?)

By the way, according to the Vatican -- that's where the Pope hangs out -- the April 15-20 trip to the United States and the United Nations will be the pope's first journey outside Italy in 2008.

In late July the pope will travel to Australia - by far the longest trip of his pontificate - to preside over World Youth Day celebrations. Sometime during the year, he's expected to visit Lourdes, France, to mark the 150th anniversary of Marian apparitions there.

Meanwhile, the pope also has made plans for several major trips inside Italy, beginning with the Ligurian seaports of Genoa and Savona in mid-May. In Savona, which hasn't hosted a pope since 1815, the announcement of the pope's visit was front-page news.

And in early September will make a one-day stop on the island of Sardinia.

But why Brindisi? If the Pope is going to visit the Puglia Region, why not check out Bari -- otherwise known as the burial place of Saint Nicholas. Or why not Lecce? Lecce is world famous for it's carte pesta and for it's amphitheatre. It's been said the Lord works in mysterious ways. And believe me, there's stranger than the Pope coming to Brindisi.

If I can be so bold -- in addition to blessing everyone and holding Mass for the masses, I recommend his Holiness visit the following locales: Alberobello -- to see al those strange looking Hobbit houses (read about it here), check out the Brindisi Monument to Fallen Sailors (read about it here). Go the Brit Pub for a pint or two (you guessed it; you can read about it here). And if he plans his trip right, his Holiness can enjoy the Brindisi Antiques market (read all about it here). The problem is, the Pope is coming to Brindisi which can only accommodate a couple of thousand people MAX and not several hundred thousand of the faithful which are going to descend upon this small port city on the Adriatic Coast.

Man I thought parking was a pain in the butt on a good day, I can only imagine what it'll be like on the 14^th.

There are already trips being offered from all parts of Italy. Where are these people gonna stay? At my house? Don't even think about it! But I still think the Pope visiting is a good thing. It'll be good for the local economy and good for tourism. And maybe Pope Benedict can get his BOSS about shining a little light on the Puglia Region so things pick up a bit.

The Pope visiting Brindisi doesn't have quite the same allure to it as -- say -- former President Clinton playing the saxophone at a blues club in New Orleans, but I'm counting on a big turn out just the same.