The Conclave...

...starts in Rome on March 12th, and TV news today showed the cardinals arriving in Rome...seems unreal, somehow...

Watching it all over coffee after a meal of pierogi in a café in Krakow's magnificent main square.  Then, through icy rain, to the great church of St Mary: we had agreed to pray the Rosary for the Conclave, for the Church, for Britain, for the research work that has  brought us to Poland (a book project), for various private intentions...

Lots of people in church, voices raised in prayer... the Stations of the Cross - the familiar devotions in a strange language. Joined in for a bit, and then, as planned,  knelt in the chapel near the door and prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Hail Mary gently back and forth in a low murmured English.   Young people still coming in to the church as we left. Checked times of Mass for tomorrow and need not have bothered: Mass every hour from 6 am onwards...

The church is, of curse, stunning - a great  blue arched ceiling studded with stars, and so much rich decoration in gold, so many votive offerings, so much to see. At a side altar, a portrait of Bl John Paul, alongside a statue of Our Lady of Fatima...

A slightly adventurous journey here: thick mist over Krakow airport, and as we flew in and were about to land, a sudden surge and roar of engines and we took off upwards again! People shrieked, an announcement was made that the pilot was just going to do another turn in order to make a new entry because visibility was poor. "It's fine" I said to the girl next to me, who had been sleeping and woke with a cry at the terrific noise "Nothing to worry about..." We flew for a long time - a big circle around the airport presumably -  and then made a steady descent, landed safely...