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| The Pope's apartment seen from Saint Peter's Square |
Before this window, millions of people have cheered, sung and prayed year after year, generation after generation. It is the window of the Pope's apartment, which is a short distance from his bedroom. Pope John XXIII began a tradition where every Sunday the Angelus is led from there. The last window, to the right is the Pope's bedroom. The eyes of the world where set on that window on April 2nd, 2005 when John Paul II passed away.
Then on May 1, 2005 Benedict XVI appeared before this window for the first time and he said: “I address you for the first time from this window, which my beloved predecessor made familiar to countless people around the world.”
Almost eight years later, in his second to last Angelus his voice reflected his elderly age of 85 saying: “I ask you to continue to pray for me and for the next Pope, and for our Spiritual Exercises, which I begin this afternoon along with members of the Roman Curia.”
On the 28th of February at 8.pm Rome time, these windows will be closed off during the so called Sede Vacante (Vacant Seat). They will be reopened after the Conclave when the new Pope is elected.
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