No, you did not read it wrong! I am currently in Italy attending a
Technical Committee meeting by OGC along with many other interested
parties. As it was I was unsure if I would make it along it was agreed
that I could have a couple of days in Rome first to make up for it, and
what an event that turned out to be! We had obviously heard on the news
that the Pope’s health was faltering, but when we heard it was getting
worse we went down to the Vatican along with thousands of others to
hope and pray for the ailing pontiff. Each night we were down in St.
Peter’s square and were present at the Mass held in the open air at 9pm
Vatican time on Saturday. Just after 9:30 we saw some lights on the
upper floor switch off and we feared the worst. Of course, our Italian
not being quite up to scratch we could not decipher the announcement at
the end of mass, but the meaning was clear. Never before have I seen so
many thousand people huddled together in such silent reverance!