An Irreverent Look at a Reverent Airline

The president of the United States has Air Force One and Marine One at his disposal. Actually, any plane or helicopter carrying the president is so designated for the duration of the flight. When I read the headline, "The Pope Launches His Own Airline," I thought that perhaps the Vatican was planning to trump the White House and provide His Holiness with his own personal fleet. But that's not what this Travel Wire News headline was all about

According to a Reuters report, "Mistral Air plans to shuttle Catholic pilgrims around the globe to holy sites, including the shrine of Fatima in Portugal and the shrine of the Madonna of Guadalupe in Mexico. 'The spirit of this new initiative is to meet the growing demand by pilgrims to visit the most important sites for the faith,' Father Cesare Atuire at the Vatican pilgrimage office, the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, told La Repubblica daily.

"Repubblica said Mistral Air's slogan ["I'm Searching for Your Face, Lord"] will be emblazoned on material throughout the aircraft, which will be operated by Italy's postal service. The debut charter flight late this month will be to the shrine of Lourdes in France, and will lure pilgrims with one added bonus -- the guide will be Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the former head of the Italian Bishops Conference, Repubblica said."

Actually, Mistral Air has been around for some time, flying mail for the Italian post office and cargo. The Vatican-sanctioned pilgrimage flights are the new part. Three thoughts popped into my head. First, Middle Eastern and Asian airlines have been flying pilgrimage flights to Mecca for decades; it's only the Roman Catholic spin that's new. This, in turn, made me think of of CNN's current series by Christiane Amanpour called "God's Warriors," comparing ultra-faithful Christians, Moslems and Jews and the extreme lengths they go to for their beliefs.

Second, I thought that President George W. Bush, with his in-your-face Born Again Christianity would love to have a pilgrimage airline, if only evangelical Christians had pilgrimage places (Jerry Falwell's grave perhaps?). Finally, it occurred to me that while these Vatican charters will be bringing Catholic pilgrims to places where the Blessed Virgin miraculously appeared, tycoon Richard Branson launched Virgin Airlines years ago. I briefly wondered whether the Vatican considered chartering aircraft from Branson, but quickly concluded, probably not.