All about the Wednesday audience

Attending the Pope’s Wednesday general audience is often at the top of the wish list for pilgrims visiting Rome and the event has been a papal tradition for many generations. Pope Benedict is currently on holiday at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome and consequently the Wednesday general audience has been suspended until the start of August. But during the remainder of the year, with few exceptions, the Pope holds a general audience every Wednesday morning where he greets the pilgrims present and delivers a catechesis.

But when did a Pope first begin the practice of holding the Wednesday audience? How many people on average attend the audience and what are some of the most memorable moments during the history of this papal fixture? Susy Hodges spoke first to Brother Chris Kierans who works at the English language desk in the Prefecture of the Papal Household and told her how the tradition began:

"Pope Pius XI began it during his reign.... and he did it to greet newly-weds and then it evolved into a weekly audience." The audience's format has been modified by different Popes over the years and Brother Chris was asked what changes the present Pope has introduced?

"He's introduced the singing of the "Our Father" at the end of the audience and singing it in Latin" as a way of symbolising the unity of the faith and the Church."

Philip Pullella is the Rome Bureau Chief for Reuters News Agency and has covered Vatican news stories for more than 30 years. He shared with Susy Hodges some of the most memorable events during the Wednesday audience over the past decades, beginning with by far the most dramatic one: the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981.

Pullella says: "I shall never forget the day that the Pope was shot.... and goes on to raccount how after hearing via his boss the report of the shooting on Vatican Radio he rushed out of his office and tried to get to St. Peter's Square as soon as possible..." After his taxi got bogged down in the traffic and roadblocks Pullella explains what he did next..."I got on the back of a motorcycle with a teenager, I jumped on the back of his Vespa and I told him "take me to the Vatican, the Pope has been shot, I'll give you any amount of money you want" ... "he probably thought I was crazy but when he realised I wasn't .. he took me there very quickly."

Listen to the full report by Susy Hodges: ...