An article in The Wall Street Journal Sept. 18, 2009, offers an inside peek at the Vatican’s travel agent, who manages arrangements for thousands of people — more than 60,000 last year — through Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (ORP). “We can handle anything,” said Father Atuire. “You call me up and say: ‘I want to bring 10,000 people.’ And I say: ‘Fine, I’ll get back to you in a day.’ “ Some benefits of planning through ORP include jumping the line to the Sistine Chapel and inexpensive rooms at convents that double as bed-and-breakfasts.

He recently sent an ORP “missionary” to promote its packages at several U.S. churches and is launching an ORP Web site designed to sell packages directly to customers in America (the current site, orpnet.org, is in Italian only).  The article offers some interesting logistics, especially on transportation, security and housing arrangements, as well as customized perks such as prayers when flights take-off and airplane headrests emblazoned with lines from the Bible. Wsj.com