Mois : janvier 2023

When I was a child, the small nativity scene my family displayed at Christmas included only a single king rather than the traditional three. Perhaps two had gotten lost before my family inherited the set, or maybe it only came with one. In any case, my mother went from store to store in search of two more magi — but here she ran into another problem. Magi figures were only available in sets of three.

This is how my family came to have four Magi in our crèche. Although some family members voted to leave one in the box, setting up this nativity display became one of my Christmas responsibilities and I dimly remembered a story about a fourth magi. So as a youngster I decided all four should be displayed.

In the introduction to his erudite and highly entertaining The Magi, author Eric Vanden Eykel invites his readers to imagine the nativity scene. Who is included in our mental images? The Holy Family, of course, but who else? Shepherds? Sheep? A donkey? A drummer boy? Maybe an angel or two? Is there a star shimmering overhead? What about those Magi?

I teach seventh grade New Testament in the suburbs of Chicago, and either due to terrible pacing or sheer dumb luck, the last chapter of the textbook I was able to cover before Christmas break was on the infancy narratives. I started these Advent lessons with Vanden Eykel’s visual thought experiment, asking my students to sketch their own particular mental image of the nativity scene.

My young teens’ drawings supplied the usual cast of characters: After the Holy Family most frequently came a trio of well-dressed gentlemen carrying gifts. We discussed how only two of the four evangelists, Matthew and Luke, included stories of Jesus’ birth, and how virtually all my students’ images combined elements and characters from both Gospels. Only Matthew includes the Magi, and a close re-reading of Matthew’s second chapter shows that what we think we know about these figures is much more than Matthew actually tells us.

One service that Vanden Eykel provides his readers is to clear away what we think we already know about the Magi, and to allow us to gaze on the scene with fresh eyes. For instance: How many magi were there? Nearly everyone would answer, « Three, of course! » Often the three are even named: Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. But Matthew doesn’t actually supply this information.

In Matthew, the unnamed and unnumbered Magi arrive with three types of gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Who are they coming to find? Jesus, of course, but how do they refer to him? The translation most Catholics are most familiar with is « the newborn King of the Jews, » but Vanden Eykel suggests that a more precise translation would read, « the one born King of the Judeans. »

Since the Magi refer to Jesus with this title in front of King Herod, the difference in translation matters a great deal: The second translation more directly calls into question the legitimacy of Herod’s Rome-backed hegemony over Judea. We know from history that Herod was paranoid and power-hungry, but this reading might help us further understand the jealousy and rage that led to Matthew’s story of the « massacre of the innocents. » Whether the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi on their journey was a star, a planetary conjunction or a comet, it too posed a challenge to Herod’s kingship, as astronomical phenomena were commonly believed to mark the arrival —or departure — of great rulers.

I grew up calling the Magi the « Three Kings, » but a literal translation would be something like « magical people. » The word has been translated as « wise men, » and « astrologers, » but we often just say « kings » instead. When the word « magi » occurs elsewhere in Scripture, it is not often in a positive light. The word connotes a foreign quality that can explain the multiethnic appearance of the trio, but has also provided fodder to Judeophobic readings for centuries. Vanden Eykel reminds us throughout his book that there are very real consequences to debates about interpretation and translation, and that this is true whether the Magi were historical individuals or, as he suggests, literary figures.

Vanden Eykel is an expert on Christian apocrypha; and it’s a good thing, for if the author were working only from Matthew’s Gospel he’d have almost nothing but speculation. Vanden Eykel does use the text of Matthew to ask questions and challenge assumptions, but he also traces the story of the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem through more creative means as well: from apocryphal and patristic texts, down to modern popular interpretations such as O. Henry’s 1905 short story « The Gift of the Magi » or Christopher Moore’s 2002 novel Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal. I did not expect in a work of biblical scholarship for there to be so much attention paid to Monty Python’s « Life of Brian »!

But while Vanden Eykel does keep his readers guessing and entertained, his traditional scholarship is still top-notch. In The Magi, even the footnotes are fascinating.

Despite the fact that the entire story of the Magi comprises 12 short verses in Matthew’s Gospel, Vanden Eykel writes that, « aside from Jesus, Mary, and a handful of others, there are few characters in the history of Christianity who have exercised a more profound influence on our collective imaginations. » The author deftly connects the foundation texts of this story and shows his readers where the seeds of our assumptions about the Magi were sown — and how they grew to lend light, color and fragrance to our lives at Christmas and Epiphany.

I will close with a final story Vanden Eykel mentions in his last chapter. According to a relatively recent (1896) « apocryphal » text, The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry van Dyke, a fourth magi named Artaban accompanied the more familiar Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar from the East, but was delayed, helping unfortunate travelers he met along the way to Bethlehem. By the time Artaban finally got to Judea, 33 years had passed and his arrival now coincided with Jesus’ crucifixion. The old pilgrim was rewarded for his labors of charity with a vision of Christ before his own death.

As a child I always left the figure of the fourth Magi a bit off to one side of the crèche, hiding behind an evergreen tree that would have been somewhat out of place in the Holy Land of the first century. Eric Vanden Eykel and his book showed me why, even as a child, I already had a space reserved for Artaban — both in my nativity scene and in my imagination.

I became a writer by being a reader, and I became a reader to escape my body. When I was consumed by pain due to my childhood chronic illness, I learned there was a magical backdoor in my mind that led to Narnia, to 19th-century New England, or simply to a secret garden. Books could take me away.

Authors writing about embodiment face a paradox: Words help us share what we’ve learned and invite each other to new ways of being in the world, but the written word can also be a tool for separating us from our bodies and even from each other. How do we help our readers move from understanding concepts to incarnating truths?

In The Embodied Path: Telling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness, Ellie Roscher seeks to reclaim writing as an act of reintegration with our bodies, our stories, and ourselves. Its unique structure is part anthology, part memoir, part workbook. Each of the seven chapters includes multiple « body stories » retold from interviews with people Roscher knows, stories from Roscher’s own life and writing prompts and breath practices for readers to follow.

While the stories illustrate various aspects of life with our ever-changing human bodies, their ultimate purpose is to illuminate and inspire a new telling of the reader’s own body story using the practices and prompts. Reading and writing become avenues back into the body, rather than away from them, allowing each of us to reclaim agency within our own stories through their retellings.

Along the way, more than 20 stories offer wisdom from many different kinds of embodied lives. Readers meet wheelchair user Rebecca and cancer survivor Kevin, whose stories invite us to pay attention to the ways our own bodies or others’ are marginalized by ableism. We are allowed to witness Justin’s and Sawyer’s gender-expansive lives. The body story of Linda, a lesbian nun, offers us a chance to reflect upon our various identities and how they affect our belonging in different spaces. Elizabeth’s story allows us a joyful glimpse into a life told through tattoos. Fardosa, who is hijabi, and Sage, who is Black and mixed, share two very different narratives about reclaiming the self from the white gaze.

Roscher characterizes all of these stories as « counter-stories. » As she defines them, « counter-stories are told to resist, repudiate, subvert, contest, and undermine the master narrative. They don’t buy what the dominant culture is selling. » Of course, choosing to claim the wisdom and importance of body stories is itself a counter-narrative to the Gnostic tendencies of dominant culture. However, Roscher’s stories themselves continually remind readers to pay closer attention to « master narratives » of privilege and oppression, as well as to how our bodies tell more complicated, more liberatory and truer stories about who we are and how we relate to each other.

While each story is told with sensitivity and artistry, the first-person narratives of Roscher’s own body are especially compelling. Throughout the book, she shares stories from various parts of her body and times in her life. With honesty, attention to her own context, self-compassion and humility, Roscher « goes first » in crafting her body story, creating a space of hospitality where the reader can envision and write their own.

Readers will want to pay special attention to the introduction and the chapter titled « How to Use This Book, » as the rest of the book is dense with narrative material and light on instruction. Roscher tells us to « go slowly, » a reminder that could probably be reiterated with every chapter. The writing is compelling, but body stories are intense. Breath practices can be unfamiliar and often reveal their gifts with repetition. Writing the stories of our own bodies is difficult emotional and mental labor. This is a book that explicitly asks for the reader’s engagement, and might accompany a journey of weeks or months.

The Embodied Path is a rich, kaleidoscopic resource — the kind of book readers could return to and experience differently every few years. In fact, the ever-changing nature of our bodies and our stories is a major theme of the book. As Roscher writes: « We are the main characters of our own stories, and we can consciously fall in love with our lives and our bodies as they unfold, expand, and become. » 

Long after childhood, writing my body story has offered me a path to reintegrate with my own sick body and to resist the ableism within and around me. Even so, the breath exercises and writing prompts in The Embodied Path inspired me to journal about a different body story from the last year — reminding me that meeting our bodies and telling their truths is never a completed project. It’s a beautiful and empowering journey that continues on.

With the same spirit and aims that behind his recent reform and reorganization of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis, as Bishop of Rome, has overhauled the Vicariate of Rome.

The vicariate, too, is called « to become more suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation » and to be at the service of a church that reaches out to everyone, evangelizing in word and deed, embracing human life and « touching the suffering flesh of Christ in others, » the pope wrote in a new papal instruction.

Of the many changes, the pope created two new bodies: an office dedicated to safeguarding minors and vulnerable people; and an independent supervisory commission of papally appointed experts who monitor the work and administrative and economic affairs of the vicariate.

The changes, which go into effect Jan. 31, were released Jan. 6 in the new apostolic constitution, « In Ecclesiarum Communione » (« In the Communion of Churches »). It replaces the previous constitution, « Ecclesia in Urbe » (« The Church in the City »), issued by St. John Paul II in 1988.

The new document aims to revitalize the vicariate’s mission by giving « primacy » to charity and the proclamation of divine mercy, synodality with the faithful and promoting greater collegiality, particularly between the pope and his auxiliary bishops of Rome.

In fact, the pope will have a much greater role in the vicariate, staying informed with required reporting, presiding over meetings of the episcopal council and taking part in major decisions concerning pastoral, administrative and financial matters, including requiring his final approval of the diocese’s annual budget report.

The annual budget report, budget management, requests for assistance by parishes and rectors and ensuring greater transparency in managing funds will be handled by the diocesan council for economic affairs, which is presided over by the cardinal vicar or the vice regent, it said.

The pope wrote he would like greater vigilance over financial management « so that it may be prudent and responsible » and « conducted consistently with the purpose that justifies the church’s possession of goods. »

The constitution recognized that « due to the very large task of governing the universal church, » the pope needs to have help in caring for the Diocese of Rome, which is why he appoints a cardinal vicar.

The cardinal vicar will inform the pope « periodically and whenever he deems it necessary about the pastoral activity and life of the diocese. In particular, he will not undertake initiatives that are important or exceed ordinary administration without first reporting to me. »

The cardinal vicar also must submit first to the pope all candidates « for possible admission to Holy Orders » after those candidates have received approval by the episcopal council.

« The church loses its credibility when it is filled with what is not essential to its mission or, worse, when its members, sometimes even those invested with ministerial authority, are a source of scandal by their behaviors that are unfaithful to the Gospel, » Francis wrote. « Only in the total giving of oneself to Christ in order to serve the salvation of the world does the church renew her fidelity. »

President Joe Biden said Jan. 4 he plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, which would be the first visit to the border of his presidency, when he travels to Mexico next week.

Biden is scheduled to attend a North American leaders summit with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Jan. 9-10 in Mexico City.

« That’s my intention, we’re working out the details now, » Biden told reporters during his visit to Kentucky.

Asked by a reporter upon his return to the White House what he would like to see at the border during his visit, Biden replied, « Peace and security. »

« I’m going to see what’s going on, » Biden said. « I’m going to be making a speech tomorrow on border security, and you’ll hear more about it tomorrow. »

Republicans have targeted immigration as one of their key areas of criticism of Biden and his administration, often criticizing him for not visiting the southern border and pointing to a surge of migrants there.

Republican Governors Ron Desantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas have sent migrants to East coast locations, including Washington, D.C., and Martha’s Vineyard to draw attention to their criticisms of Biden’s border policies. Faced with freezing temperatures from the polar vortex, Abbott sent buses filled with 130 migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence in Washington on Christmas Eve in 18-degree weather.

The U.S. Supreme Court, at least temporarily, has blocked the Biden administration from implementing some of its sought-after immigration policies last month. The high court decided that Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy that expanded border officials’ authority to expel asylum-seekers at the border as part of its Covid-19 pandemic response, will remain in effect while its court challenge plays out.

The Biden administration has sought to end Title 42, but has said it will comply with the high court’s ruling.

For Biden, who has indicated he will seek re-election as president in 2024, the issue of immigration marks one of his key points of contention with his 2020 rival, former President Donald Trump.

Trump, who won the Republican nomination in 2016 on a platform including hardline immigration policies, has announced his third bid for the White House in 2024.

Biden’s visit to the border may encourage asylum-seekers who have asked him to come to the border. In a previous OSV News story, one such asylum-seeker named « Betty » — actual name withheld for security — appealed to Biden and others to see what they are experiencing.

« Put yourself in our shoes, the shoes of those who are experiencing hunger and cold, » she said. « Help us. »

French police are investigating an allegation that the former archbishop of Paris sexually assaulted a woman who is under legal protection as a vulnerable person, prosecutors said Jan. 4.

Michel Aupetit, who unexpectedly resigned in 2021 after admitting to an “ambiguous” relationship with a woman in 2012, denies any wrongdoing, his lawyer said.

The police investigation of Aupetit was opened on the basis of information from the Paris archdiocese, the Paris prosecutors’ office said, confirming French media reports.

It was launched in late November 2022, on a preliminary potential charge of sexual assault on a vulnerable person, the prosecutors’ office said. The alleged assault took place several years ago, it added, providing no other details.

Aupetit’s lawyer, Jean Reinhart, said the probe was triggered by a letter sent to the Paris archdiocese. The letter was then forwarded to prosecutors, an automatic procedure for handling potential abuse cases that Aupetit himself put in place when he was archbishop, Reinhart said. Prosecutors then launched the police probe.

Reinhart said Aupetit has not seen the letter, hasn’t been told who wrote it or what specifically it contains.

“My client is flabbergasted, doesn’t know what this is about,” the lawyer said. “We are completely in the dark.”

Aupetit became Paris archbishop in 2018. Pope Francis quickly accepted his resignation in December 2021.

The pontiff subsequently said he accepted the resignation because Aupetit couldn’t govern effectively after “gossip” about his relationship with a woman removed his “good name.”

Francis said there had been “lapses” with Aupetit involving sexual sins. He said they weren’t that serious and involved “some caresses and massages.”

Roman Catholic priests take vows of chastity.

Aupetit’s resignation piled more upheaval on the French Catholic Church that has been severely undermined by a long history of sexual abuses. A report in October 2021 estimated that some 3,000 French priests had committed sexual abuse over the past 70 years.

In 2020, the pope accepted the resignation of French Roman Catholic Cardinal Philippe Barbarin in connection with the coverup of sexual abuse of dozens of boys by a predatory priest.

Other investigations are also underway. Last November, the prosecutor’s office in the southern city of Marseille opened a preliminary investigation for “aggravated sexual assault” against Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, one of France’s highest-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church.

In a letter that was read out during a conference of French bishops, Ricard said that he had abused a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago and was withdrawing from his religious duties.

The Jan. 5 funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI will be a papal funeral with a few changes to fit with the fact that he was not the reigning pope and has not left behind a « sede vacante. »

« The liturgical celebration follows the model of a funeral service for a supreme pontiff, broadly speaking, » Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters Jan. 3.

While based on a traditional papal funeral, he said, it will have « some new elements that give the rite its originality and some missing elements, which are those that are more pertinent to a reigning pontiff. »

For example, there are no final prayers offered by representatives of the Diocese of Rome and of the Eastern Catholic churches, since those prayers are specific to the death of a reigning pope, who is bishop of the Diocese of Rome and is in communion with the leaders of the Eastern-rite churches.

Bruni spoke to reporters in the Vatican press office after the booklet for the funeral Mass was published by the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

The Mass booklet features a color reproduction of Caravaggio’s « Deposition » or entombment of Christ — a 17th-century masterpiece housed in the Vatican Museums.

Some differences can be seen in some of the prayers and the readings, Bruni said.

The first reading will be taken from the Book of Isaiah (29:16-19) in which the Lord says there will be a day when the deaf will hear the words of a scroll « and, after gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see. But the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel. »

In comparison, the first reading at St. John Paul II’s funeral Mass was « Peter’s Speech » from the Acts of the Apostles (10:34-43), which speaks of the apostles’ mandate to preach and testify that everyone who believes in Christ « will receive forgiveness of sins through his name. »

The second reading for the Jan. 5 Mass is from the first letter of St. Peter (1:3-9) which praises God’s mercy giving the faithful « a new birth » as his children and « by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope and the promise » of eternal life in heaven.

The second reading at St. John Paul’s funeral was from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (3:20-4:1) about the faithful’s « citizenship in heaven. »

The Gospel reading for Benedict’s funeral Mass was to be from St. Luke’s account of Jesus’ final moments on the cross and telling the « good thief » who recognized him as the Christ, « today you will be with me in paradise. » The Gospel reading for St. John Paul’s funeral Mass was from John (21: 15-19) when Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep.

The only other notable changes are in the prayers of the faithful. They include petitions for « Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace, » followed by a prayer « for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and for all the pastors of the church: may they proclaim fearlessly, in word and deed, Christ’s victory over evil and death. »

Benedict had wished his funeral to be simple, Bruni had said, emphasizing it would be « solemn, but sober. » Francis will preside over the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will be the main celebrant at the altar.

Some traditions connected with the death and burial of a pope will be followed, Bruni said, such as three objects being deposited in the pope’s casket before he is buried: his palliums, coins and medals minted during his pontificate, and a « rogito » or scroll that summarizes in Latin the highlights of his papacy.

Responding to questions about whether Benedict would be buried with a pastoral staff or a papal ferula, which is a staff topped with a cross, Bruni said the ferula is only held by a reigning pope and that no pope is ever buried with either item.

After public viewing of his body ends the evening of Jan. 4, Benedict will be placed in a traditional cypress casket, following a traditional ritual, Bruni said.

Before the funeral, the casket will be carried into St. Peter’s Square and the faithful will be asked to join the recitation of the rosary before Mass.

After the funeral, again following tradition, the casket will be sealed and wrapped with ribbons, then it will be placed inside a zinc casket that will be soldered and sealed, and then that will be placed inside a casket made of wood.

The moment of his burial in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica, where other popes are buried, will be private, Bruni said.

Thousands of people from around the world began to pay their final respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 2, as his body was transferred into St. Peter’s Basilica from the Vatican monastery where he resided for nearly ten years after his surprise resignation from the papacy in 2013.

The retired pope, who died on Dec. 31, arrived in the basilica at 7:15 a.m. Central European Time, where Italian Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general for Vatican State, presided over a brief blessing of the body, before the church doors opened at 9:00 a.m. 

Residents of Rome — including Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — were among the first to pay their respects, soon joined by pilgrims and tourists alike.

« I was really young when he was pope, » 25-year-old Chelsea Hernandez, who was visiting from Tijuana, Mexico, told NCR. « I know more about Francis, to be honest. But once you’re in there, you’re just grateful to be able to experience this. »

« Growing up you hear so much about role models and saints, » she added. « It’s amazing to be able to see so many people gather and celebrate Pope Benedict and celebrate the church. » 

Fr. Ben Valentine of Dubuque, Iowa, said he just happened to be in Rome on an already scheduled pilgrimage when he heard the news of the retired pope’s death. 

Valentine, who was ordained to the priesthood earlier this year, said it was in the seminary that he began to learn more about Pope Benedict XVI, and in particular, his theological works. 

« For me, I just see him as someone with so much depth to his theology, » he said. « He unfolds the riches of the church in a way that’s so attractive, so beautiful. »

Valentine recalled a quote from Benedict’s inauguration as pope in 2005 – after the former German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope by the cardinals following the death of Pope John Paul II – where the-then new pontiff told those gathered in St. Peter’s Square: « Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. »

Now, nearly 20 years later and standing in that same square awaiting the opportunity to pay tribute to the man who inspired him with those words, Valentine said, « I’ve repeated that line so many times, that’s my experience in life. » 
 

Italian police estimate that some 30,000 people will make their way through St. Peter’s Basilica each day for the opportunity to visit, which will last through Wednesday, Jan. 4. The following day, Pope Francis will preside over the funeral Mass, which will take place in St. Peter’s Square, marking the first time in modern history where a current pope has presided over the funeral of his predecessor. 

The Vatican released the first images of the late pope’s body on Jan. 1, in repose in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery chapel. There, as he is in the basilica, Benedict was dressed with a miter, red vestments and black shoes, but without the pallium worn by active metropolitan archbishops. 

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, Australia noted on his Facebook page that Benedict was wearing the same chasuble that he wore when he celebrated the final Mass at World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008, and that the Vatican confirmed that Benedict would be buried in it. 

« Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI remarked to me on many occasions how much he loved his visit to Sydney to celebrate World Youth Day in 2008, » wrote Fisher, who was responsible for organizing that visit. « What a wonderful tribute. » 

As the first visitors arrived in St. Peter’s on Monday, Jan. 2 — from places as far apart as Finland, India and Australia — most had only a few seconds in front of the body as it rested in front of the basilica’s main altar, as organ music and a choir sang in the background. 

Outside, the unusually warm and sunny weather enjoyed over the holiday weekend in Rome had turned into a slight chill with overcast skies, though the line moved briskly, with most pilgrims waiting around an hour from the time they entered security to enter the church.

As he waited his turn to enter the basilica, Jacob Francois, a 25-year-old seminarian at Mundelein seminary in Illinois, told NCR that he believed Benedict served as « the perfect successor to John Paul II’s papacy » and lived up to his pledge « to be a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. » 

« He really followed through with that, » said Francois, specifically citing Benedict’s shock abdication. « It’s a beautiful testament to the Petrine office as a whole that he wanted due diligence, that he wanted it to be taken care of. » 

Francois was joined by two other seminarians who said that not only did they plan to bid a final farewell to the late pope on Monday, but that they planned to also attend the funeral on Thursday. 

« We are very excited to pray at the tomb of someone who we believe is a great saint and a possible doctor of the church, » said the seminarian. 
 

Daughters of St. Paul Sr. Rose Pacatte said that she found the whole experience of paying tribute to the late pope and watching others do so as « extraordinary. »

As a U.S. sister (and also an NCR contributor, who is currently living in Rome), she recalled that when Benedict was first elected pope she was disappointed at the cardinals’ choice of the former prefect of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.

« As the years went by, I saw him in a bit of a different light, » she told NCR, especially citing the influence of his writings and his messages on communications.

« I am cognizant of his missteps, and his approach to doctrine and Catholic life, » she noted, « but I am still extremely inspired and impressed by his courage to resign when he did because he knew it was time that someone else could do the pastoral work better than him. He had given everything and it was time to hand it over. That’s extraordinary. »

Max Thompson, a 22-year-old tourist from Washington, D.C., said he wasn’t too surprised by the pomp and circumstance, since he grew up in the U.S. capital and that it reminded him of when a president dies, or, more recently, the death of Queen Elizabeth II.   

« I’m not religious, » he said, adding that he had already planned to visit the basilica to take in the art and architecture. « But now I’m here to observe history. »