Overawed at the "triumphal chair!"

Formal grandeur for the Vicar of Christ on earth! We moderns have all lived the Orwellian mantra: "old is bad/new is good." But, is beautiful bad and ugly good, too? When at the service of the Gospel, shouldn't the magnificent and immortal be used, too?

The last time that a pope was borne aloft on the famed sedia gestatoria (triumphal chair) was in a. 1978. Why have we not seen it since then? At the time, some clamored that it looked too "triumphal" and that the popes should look more "poor" and "humble" to appeal to us moderns. Well, history is penned by the victors and the Italians in charge at that time simply put each of the triumphal chairs into storage for the museums.

Why? During that epoch, was everyone just finally so tired of the greatness, the prestige and the words? Were people just so weary of so much learing and so much beauty? Were they so ready for the change that took place: no to the pharaoh pope, but yes to the Marxist one (for the "poor")?

But, could there be more humility in actually sitting in such a throne? The humanity and humility of the Papacy will never be outstripped by any pomp. The sedia was always just used for one practical reason: so that everyone could then actually see the pope...and so that the elderly he, too, could actually see everyone, while resting! The instinctive humanity of the papacy will not be outshone by the formality of the office, never!

The sedia was borne by sediari, who were from the Roman nobility, who would carry the throne while dressed in their heavy crimson, scarlet, damask garments. Everyone understood at that time that the pomp and ceremony around the popes served one great purpose: it was and remains the visible manifestation of a majesty which proclaims its meaning by thus being outwardly expressed. The piety and pomp is not empty ceremony, but this grandeur transcends for the moment all practical immediacy and speaks of greatness. Only the Emperor of Japan could claim that his office pre-dated the popes. The Papacy is something special and we like to be reminded of that (even with the subliminal beauty of the surroundings)!