A fond send-off for a veteran papal traveller
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
For the Vatican press corps, Pope Benedict XVI?s Sept. 12-15 trip to France was an historic occasion, entirely apart from anything the pope said or did. As it happened, the four-day voyage marked the final papal trip for the legendary Italian vaticanista Luigi Accattoli of Corriere della Sera, Italy?s daily paper of record.
It was the 95th and last papal trip for Accattoli, who has been with Corriere since 1981. He turns 65 in December, and under that paper's fairly rigid policies, he?s obligated to retire.