Nearer My God to Thee: Catholic Pilgrims Get Their Own Airline

Does the Pope have to remove his shoes every time he goes through airport security, like the rest of us do? Because that can get old. Especially if you travel a lot, like Catholic pilgrims, who've apparently been traveling enough to warrant their own charter airline, "Mistral Air." (The choice of "mistral" as the airline's name is an interesting one: although it's etymologically tied to "magistrate," its modern definition is "a strong cold dry northerly wind of Southern France." Puzzling. Let's hope it means something more Catholic-like in Italian.)

Mistral Air was created solely to transport Catholic pilgrims to holy sites around the world. The company's motto is "I'm Searching for Your Face, Lord." I wonder if searching is easier for Benedict and friends at 25,000 feet than it is on terra firma?

[via Fodor's Travel Wire]

Filed under: Europe, France, Italy, Airlines