Standing Under Saint Peter’s and Shedding a Tear

I am not a devout Catholic. I want to be honest about that upfront.

But standing under the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, I cried. Not dramatically – just quietly, unexpectedly, in the way that happens when something is so much larger than you anticipated that your body responds before your mind catches up.

The scale is incomprehensible until you’re inside it. You’ve seen the photographs. You think you’re prepared. You’re not.
What moved me wasn’t faith exactly, it was the faith of others. The faith required to begin building something like this in 1506, knowing you would never see it completed. The faith of Michelangelo, who took over the project at 71 and worked until his death. The faith of the ordinary people across centuries who funded it, built it, prayed under its construction knowing the finished dome would be enjoyed by generations not yet born.

That kind of faith – whatever you think of the institution it served – is genuinely humbling.

The wealth question
The Catholic Church is extraordinarily wealthy. Estimates vary wildly but most serious analyses place its global assets – property, art, financial holdings – somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion USD, though some estimates run considerably higher when including the value of its art collections and real estate.

The Vatican Museums alone contain one of the greatest art collections in human history. The Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Raphael Rooms. Thousands of years of accumulated treasure.

This wealth is complicated. Some of it funds hospitals, schools and social services globally – the Church runs the largest non-governmental healthcare network in the world. Some of it sits in vaults. The transparency around Church finances has improved in recent years but remains imperfect.

Standing under that dome you feel both things simultaneously – the extraordinary human achievement and the extraordinary concentration of resources that made it possible.

The honest traveller’s take
You don’t need faith to be moved by Saint Peter’s. You need only to be human and to stand there long enough to let it land.

Give it time. Don’t rush through. Find a quiet corner away from the tour groups and just look up.

Bring a tissue. Just in case.

Paul Mercuri
Wake Up Here Founder

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