The Telegraph (British) website reports today (May 9, 2011) that Pope Benedict XVI -- currently on a two-day visit to Venice -- was rowed across the city's spectacular Grand Canal in a luxury gondola yesterday, with his four "gondoliers" fighting off fierce competition for the honor.
The days leading up to the 84-year-old pope's visit have been fraught ones for the gondolier community, with one rower even invoking a vision of a Catholic saint Padre Pio in his bid for a coveted spot in the gondola.
Aldo Reato -- head of the gondoliers -- chose two rival pairs out of Venice's 425 gondoliers, rejecting the possibility of using the only woman gondolier.
Bruno and Francesco Del Rossi are brothers whose father Albino rowed late Pope John Paul II during his visit in 1985. Gianpaolo D'Este and Igor Vignotto -- the other pair -- are two famous participants in the Venice regattas.
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