WITH THE POPE 409
his place. If the audience is short, priests remain standing. The form of address is "Your Holiness" and "Holy Father." Conversa- tion is never direct but always in the third person. Upon leaving the visitor makes the same three genuflections, walking backward so as not to turn his back on the Pope. Often, especially if the visitors are non-Catholics of importance, the Pope may dispense with the genuflections, rising from his chair and giving his ring to kiss. The Throne Rooms, or it may be one of the ceremonial rooms outside the Papal residence serve for the reception of princes, or for solemn diplo- matic visits. Public audiences take place in an ante-chamber to the Sala Clementina, in the Consistory room, in Bernini's magnificent Sala Ducale, or in the famous loggia. The Pope walks past the rows of those assembled and gives each person his ring to kiss. Very large groups of pilgrims are received in the courtyard, which is enclosed by the wings of the Papal palace, or it may be in the beautiful old court- yard of the Belvedere. The Papal blessing is always received kneeling.
During the years when the Vatican and the Quirinal were at odds, it was very difficult for an alien sovereign to visit the Pope. This visit could not be made from the Quirinal. The ruler went to the embassy of his country and from there drove to the Vatican. He might, as William II did, go in his own ornate carriage, brought especially from Berlin, accompanied by his bodyguard; or as Edward VII did, he might try to avoid offending Italian patriotic sentiment by riding mod- estly and diplomatically in a simple closed cab. During whole dec- ades Catholic rulers could not go to Rome at all, because they would not have been received in the Vatican if they had previously visited the Quirinal or been a guest there. Nevertheless this point of view had already to some extent been modified before the Lateran treaties were signed. The Spanish and the Belgian royal couples, for ex- ample, were received by the present Pope. During the "imprison- ment" the Pope was always recognized by all foreign powers, no matter of what confession, as a temporal sovereign. Ambassadors and state representatives from all parts of the world were accredited to the Vatican, whose nuncios were sent to the courts and governments of various countries.
As a temporal sovereign the Pope has the right to maintain his own militia and his own police force. He can create nobles and con-
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