The great reversal.

Some eight centuries ago Saint Francis of Assisi embarked on a journey to Rome to ask Holy Father Pope Honorius III for permission to establish the Order of Friars Minor. In just a few hours' time, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will embark on a journey to the tomb of the Poverello, always a faithful servant of the Church.

In Giotto's fresco pictured above, Saint Francis of Assisi preaches to Pope Honorius III.