It didn’t help matters that there were lots of rules and prohibitions about what could be taken into the stadium where The Pope spoke. There was a long walk from the parking area into the speaker area. There had been four or five days of rain, so the ground was loose and muddy. Not very practical for the elderly or the fragile ambulator.
If you had a fold out chair, you had to carry it with you, no parking too close.No baby buggies allowed inside (they called these Prams). It also didn’t help matters that The Pope has for once been rather quiet about this latest wave of sex scandals in the Catholic Church.
Pope St. John Paul II drew a crowd of 1.25 million in this very same location in 1979.
I think it was more than just the weather.