51�Թ�

Officials said 80% the pilgrims who died last year, including hundreds of Egyptians and Indonesians, were unregistered and therefore lacked access to proper air-conditioned accommodation, transport and other amenities when temperatures reached 51C.

There’s a twisted, postmodern “Canterbury Tales”-like quality to these proceedings: Like medieval pilgrims, its central characters are each on a journey they hope will change their lives.

As mouse-eared pilgrims plied the sidewalks outside, the party faithful — meeting several long blocks from Disneyland — engaged in their own bit of escapism and magical thinking.

Thousands of pilgrims stood in reverence as the pope received the symbols of office, blessed the people and issued a strong call for unity.

The restaurants around the Vatican filled up with pilgrims, clergy, and tourists.