AMMAN, Jordan — A Jordanian hotel owner preparing a lunch for the pope spent five weeks coming up with a choice of five menus for the upcoming visit and is still agonizing over what could go wrong — just as he did when John Paul II visited nine years ago.
Said Sawalha said the Vatican chose a light meal of beef medallions, vegetables and pineapple cake, a menu designed to keep the 81-year-old Benedict XVI’s energy up on his Holy Land tour starting this week in Jordan.
“I have been having anxieties that anything could go wrong,” said Sawalha, owner of the Regency Hotel in Amman. “I mapped out plan Bs to everything, from having the pineapple cake fall to a flat tire as we transport the food to the banquet hall.”
The Vatican labeled Sunday’s meal as a “private lunch” with 320 bishops and patriarchs to be held at the Latin Vicariate in Amman following a public mass. It’s all part of the pope’s tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories starting Friday. Benedict XVI said he hopes his trip will promote reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians.
