Do as the Romans do...or at least try to: Missed the Ring and Kissed the Hand

Saturday was a big day for Vatican City. It was the Consistory of Cardinals. I wasn't able to get tickets to the event, however I did something equally as cool. For a few hours, there were courtesy visits to the new Cardinals. My fellow Catholic friend Kyle and I wandered down the Vatican a little after 4 for the Vatican meet-and-greet. As you can imagine it was a little crowded, but with some American style line maneuvering we were inside the Vatican. We just got in a line not knowing who exactly we were meeting, but we figured whoever we met would be an important person to introduce ourselves to. This time we weren't entering through the Basilica doors, we were entering the Pope's residence building. We walked through the side doors I have seen many times before, but never imagine I would ever walk through them. I was in awe. Kyle and I were like little kids in one of the coolest playgrounds ever. Every turn we made we both gasped in amazement. We walked up the ornate staircase into a series of rooms I never knew existed. My jaw literally dropped.

Once we settled down a bit we realized we had to introduce ourselves to newly elected Cardinals. We were freaking out. We had no idea what to do. The first Cardinal we met was Cardinal Monteiro de Castro. Based on the Spanish being spoken around us we assumed he was from Spain. Wrong. He was the former Archbishop of Lisbon. We had no idea what to do. What do you say? How do you address them? Do you kneel? Do you shake their hand? We let others go in front of us so we could see how to act. Everyone did something different! Some people kissed his ring. Others hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. We were clueless. We were so desperate we even asked a Swiss Guard what to do. The moment came and I awkwardly shook his hand with both of my hands. I think he sensed my nervousness. He was kind enough to chat with us for a bit which made it less terrifying. We continued through the rooms and came across some more Cardinals. The same emotions of nervousness took over. Did we offend the last one? What do we do?!?! Apparently the next Cardinal was of important stature. Everyone in front of us knelt down and kissed his ring. We were freaking out. It was my turn and I had no control over what my body was doing. I missed the ring and kissed his hand. Kyle made the same mistake too. Cardinal Versaldi knew we were from America, shook his head and blessed us. We were too embarrassed to take a picture with him. We quickly scurried off. The anxiety from meeting the Cardinals was exhausting, so we settled on exploring our surroundings for the rest of the evening. After walking around every square inch we were allowed to, our visit ended in the courtyard of the Pope's Residence. It was an incredible experience. I was in amazement each minute I was there.