As the plane carrying Pope Francis to Washington, DC, nears Andrews Air Force Base on Sept. 22, American TV likely will be full of breathless references to “Shepherd One” being on approach, “Shepherd One” touching down, and, eventually, the pontiff descending the steps of “Shepherd One.”
It’s not often that a mere two words manage to convey three complete misconceptions, but the phrase “Shepherd One” pulls off the hat trick.
1. The plane isn’t really called “Shepherd One.” People in the United States call it that, but the phrase is a media conceit rather than an actual call sign.
Formally speaking, the papal plane doesn’t have a name. Its designation is usually just Alitalia flight AZ 4000 on the outbound leg, and beyond that Italians simply call it the volo papale, or “papal flight.”
2. The pope doesn’t own a plane. The term “Shepherd One” suggests that the pope actually owns a plane, which he doesn’t. Even the term “papal plane” is something of a myth, since the pontiff does not have his own personal aircraft.
The Vatican always charters a plane for the three or four foreign trips a pope usually makes every year, often using a different aircraft for each leg of the journey.
These are regular commercial planes that were in use making the Rome to London run, or something like it, the day before the trip and will be again once it’s over.
The tradition is for the pope to take the Italian national airline, Alitalia, to wherever he’s going, and then fly the national carrier of that country on his return.
When Francis travelled to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January, for instance, he took Alitalia to get there and Philippine Airlines to get back to Rome.
On this trip, Francis will take Alitalia as far as Washington and then American Airlines the rest of the way. Continue reading
Sources
- Crux, from an article written by John L. Allen Jr., associate editor of Crux, who specialises in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
- Image: Senza Pagare
Related Posts:
News category: Features.
