ROME – More than two million pilgrims are expected to throng the streets of Rome for the beatification ceremony of John Paul II on May 1, leaving travel agencies desperate for accommodation and hotel prices soaring. The Vatican expects as many as two and a half million people to flock to the ceremony, according to Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The ceremony will be led by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Square, where John Paul II’s funeral took place only six years ago. “Since the beatification announcement, bookings have exploded,” said Giuseppe Roscioli, head of Federalberghi Roma, which represents around 500 hotels and offers around 90,000 of the capital’s 150,000 beds. Hotels and city authorities are bracing themselves for crowds as big as the ones that descended on the Vatican when John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, after a pontificate that spanned a quarter century.
Roscioli said the Vatican’s decision to hold the celebration on May 1 complicated matters, because it coincides with a public holiday in much of Europe and is a peak period of tourism in Italy. “It’s like wanting to organise an event in Monaco during the Formula One Grand Prix. It’s absurd. It’s obvious that the Vatican’s calendar has nothing to do with day-to-day life,” he said.
“Our hotels published this year’s prices last year, when we had no idea what date the beatification would be.
