VATICAN CORNER
How many Vatican worker does it take to change a light bulb? Well, in St. Peter’s Cathedral it takes 4, because the chandeliers have to be lowered a distance of 33 floors. Behind the scenes at the Vatican there is a small army of workers performing the day-to-day chores necessary to keep the facilities clean, beautiful, and operating properly. Every day there are about 25 people performing the cleaning, doing such jobs as dusting, polishing, removing pigeon droppings and scraping up chewing gum. There are 22,000 square meters, or 5.4 acres of floor to be cleaned each day. Cleaning jobs in the Vatican are often handed down from generation to generation. There are about 55 maintenance workers whose expertise includes metal working, marble repair, carpentry, etc. There are two communities of nuns living in the Vatican. One group takes responsibility for the laundering, cooking, and tapestry repair. They prepare the robes and clothing for ceremonial use. They do the ironing in the sacristy from 8 am until noon, and again from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm, and they pray while they work. Sister Rita says sometimes if they haven’t finished their work by Sunday, they use that day to finish, and “when there’s time they mend things … but there’s never time.” The Vatican florists are responsible for all the flower displays within the city. They have greenhouses for growing plants, and share quarters with the gardening team. There is a hospitality team who take care of the various rooms and access around the Apostolic Palace. There is Professor Pellegrini who is responsible for arranging the Pope’s audiences. Eight keepers of the keys in the Vatican museums work in two shifts and are responsible for the 300 doors. Windows get opened by other technicians. Among many other types of workers, there are the Pope’s drivers, the mosaic artists, and the security guards. All told there are about 3,000 laborers working in the Vatican and they live outside the City and commute in. Lay employees have always had to be Roman Catholics and swear loyalty to the Pope. Under a new set of rules of conduct implemented in 1995, new employees have to sign a statement binding them to observe the moral doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has repeatedly praised the dignity of labor. Once as a young man he himself had a job as a bouncer. Pope Francis has made it his duty to invite each group of workers to attend his morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse where he lives.
Sources: encyclopedia.com, cnsblog.wordpress.com, theguardian.com