Drone On!!!

The procession had an ancient vibe: Dozens of priests in white robes, leading hundreds more Catholics in a solemn procession through Northeast Washington. People chanted and sang prayers from the 3rd century, asking saints through Christianity’s history for help.

Hovering over it all was a drone.

The Archdiocese of Washington debuted its new, hubcap-sized flying device on Mother’s Day, using it to videotape crowds participating in a procession marking the canonizations of popes John Paul II and John the 23rd (now called St. John Paul II and St. John the 23rd). The video images captured by the drone-mounted camera were used in a YouTube mashup the archdiocese made, mixing soaring classical music and scenes from an earlier indoor Mass.

Click here to read the entire article:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washington-archdiocese-tries-out-its-new-drone-to-film-sainthood-procession/2014/05/19/c25b0876-dd41-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html

BREAKING NEWS: John XXIII and John Paul II to be canonized.

It was announced that John XXIII and John Paul II will be canonized before the end of the year.  More later.

SOLD - John Paul II Cultural Center (Update)

Capping years of drama over the future of Washington's Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, late tonight the Michigan-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, announced that they had inked an agreement to buy the property for use as a house of studies.

For more, read Whispers in the Loggia for the full story.

Update (Nov. 10, 2010): Altough there is an agreement to sell the property to the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, this sale is pending the outcome of the inspection process. It is my understanding that the process should be completed sometime in December. I hope that this clarifies the current situation and apologize if it has mislead anyone.

PS: I have not forgotten about VOTF at St. Rose of Lima...see the story below.

The Vatican on display at the National Museum of Funeral History

Although not a "Washington DC" story, I thought my readers might find the largest exhibit of Vatican artifacts outside of Rome both unsual and different. From the Washington Post:

The only exhibit of Vatican artifacts outside the papal capital is on display in an unlikely spot _ the National Museum of Funeral History, an exhibit hall that celebrates coffins, hearses and other ceremonial aspects of death.

The exhibit is designed to recreate the experience of attending a papal funeral. There is a re-creation of a pope lying in state at St. Peter's Basilica, flanked by two members of the Swiss Guard. A mannequin representing the pontiff is clothed in the funeral vestments made for John Paul II; the Swiss Guard figures wear blue and yellow uniforms donated by the corps.