Vatican: It is not often that more than 250,000 orange men come together to pray with Pope John Paul II but it happened yesterday at the Marian shrine of Loreto, Italy.
The orange army in question were followers of the Italian Catholic lay movement, Azione Cattolica Italiana, who - happily oblivious of the specific connotations of the colour orange in Northern Ireland - donned orange caps, T-shirts and rucksacks yesterday to greet the Pope.
On what was probably his last trip outside the Vatican this year, the ailing 84-year-old Pope presided over a tiring three-hour ceremony which saw the beatification of three followers of Azione Cattolica (AC).
Even as the Papal helicopter flew in low over the splendid natural amphitheatre of Montorso, near Loreto, he was greeted with rhythmic cries of "Giovanni-Paolo-Secondo, Giovanni-Paolo-Secondo" from the young followers of AC.
In the 30-plus degree heat of a hot September morning and with the nearby Adriatic forming a startling backdrop to the altar, the enthusiastic orange army looked more like supporters of the Dutch football team than fervent Catholics.
As so often on occasions such as this, the Pope seemed to take strength from the enthusiastic welcome afforded him by the Woodstock-style gathering.
As he made his way from the helicopter to the altar, passing through the huge crowd in a jeep, he was greeted with cheers, applause and shouts of encouragement. The jeep was forced to a stop three times so he could kiss some of the children.
Looking and sounding stronger than in Lourdes three weeks ago, the Pope presided over the ceremony from start to finish, reading his own homily.
On Saturday, in a strong condemnation of terrorist violence, he had "entrusted" the victims of the Beslan siege in Russia to "God's mercy".
Although he did not make further reference to Beslan yesterday, the tragedy was mentioned in a prayer recited by a boy calling on Christians to pray "for the Russian people hit so hard by the tragic siege".
Vatican sources last week suggested that yesterday's trip will be the last this year outside the Vatican for the Pope.
It had been speculated that he might accept an invitation from Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, to celebrate Saint Andrew's day in Istanbul on November 30th.
Although the trip to Turkey has not been definitively ruled out, issues such as the Pope's frail health, the overall picture regarding ecumenical relations and the security situation are likely to see it postponed until 2005.