‘Francis Effect’ draws double the crowds

The "Francis Effect" has been putting bums on seats, or should we say pews. No one had any real doubts on the subject but just in case they did, the Holy See this week confirmed that Pope Francis has been a grade one, box-office success.

The Vatican has confirmed that since his election last March, more than 6.5 million people have attended papal ceremonies and events in Rome, almost double the crowds drawn by Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Remarkably that figure is far from global because it does not include the estimated three million faithful who joined with the pope to celebrate World Youth Day in Brazil last July, not to mention the thousands who took part in his Italian visits to the island of Lampedusa, to Cagliari and to Assisi.

Inevitably, the figures are approximate since they are based on the numbers of requests for tickets received by the pontifical household, rather than on any scientific count of the numbers in St Peter’s Square.

However, to anyone familiar with the Vatican it has been clear for some time now that Francis has attracted huge crowds. These days Roman taxi drivers issue an immediate warning if you ask to be taken to the Vatican on a Wednesday, the day of the weekly public audience, such are the traffic delays provoked by the 100,000- strong crowds.

The pope's Sunday Angelus and his Regina Coeli prayers from the window of his "uninhabited" papal apartment remain the biggest crowd puller, having drawn over 2.7 million people since last March. The other Vatican numbers are made up by 1.5 million people at the Wednesday audience and another 2.2 million who attended Mass or liturgical celebrations such as beatifications and canonisations.

The Francesco effect has been felt by the Vatican museums too, with just under 5.5 million visitors in 2013, an increase of about 30 per cent on 2012. While the director of the Vatican museums, Antonio Paolucci, is clearly pleased with the uptake in visitors, the huge numbers also represent a source of worry in relation to the upkeep and maintenance of some of the world’s greatest art treasures.

In a statement issued this week, he pointed out: “I have to ask myself, not without much worry, what exactly will happen in Rome next Easter when the canonisations of John XXIII and John Paul II will attract huge numbers of Catholics from all over the world. Such numbers require some fundamental thinking and prioritising in order to constantly maintain, conserve and safeguard the patrimony [of the Holy See] . . .”

To that end, the Holy See intends this year to finalise a three-year long “climatic upkeep” of the Sistine Chapel which closely monitors air flow, humidity, temperature and air pollutants. As for Pope Francis, notwithstanding a busy Christmas and new year schedule, he had another important appointment yesterday when he celebrated Mass at the Jesuit Chiesa dell Gesù in central Rome.