ROME — The cardinals seemed to be everywhere, checking their cellphones as they sat on parked mopeds, petting dogs and wearing plastic bibs over their pectoral crosses as they waited in line for lunch on a small street outside the Vatican. Florence Cooper, a tourist from Vancouver, stumbled upon a group of them on Monday dressed in their distinctive black cassocks and scarlet buttons, fascias and zucchettos. They draped their arms over her shoulders as her husband snapped a photo. Astonished at her good luck, she thanked the Italians for their kindness and lifted the medallion of St. Christopher hanging from her necklace for a blessing. That’s when Fausto Maria Rivalta, 64, interrupted.

Source: New York Times May 09, 2018 13:57 UTC