March 2003. One of our last places on our pilgrimage through Sicily and Italy, following in the footsteps of St. Paul (except we weren't beheaded at the end). The Basilica is incredible - Masses going on all over, popes buried underneath where you can walk right up to their tombs, and the nearly incorruptible body of Pope John XXIII (who, by the way, died of stomach cancer. You really don't think of popes getting cancer, you know?), and now the final resting place of Pope John Paul II. One of my most miserable confessions from a priest that didn't fancy Americans, and an incredibly special Mass at the tomb of St. Peter. An amazing pilgrimage in my life, just before I began chairing the Relay, and I'm starting to count down the days to the pilgrimage next May...through Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel.
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