“Would Your Eminence like Fries with that?” You might well hear that soon at the new McDonanld’s outlet that’s prepping to open in Vatican City. But not everyone is happy with this development, especially the College of Cardinals, several of whom live right above the new restaurant…
Another first for McDonald’s, who out-bid a bunch of other contenders for the spot.
Yup. McD’s is opening in Vatican City and nobody gave the Church’s religious leaders the head’s up. According to a story in The Guardian, the Cardinals, among others, are not happy with that. Sure, there are lots of little local restaurants in The Holy See, but they are small traditional, family joints for the most part. No other Fast Food Chain has dared try to forge such a close association with the Catholic Church, even if it is merely a geographic one. McDonald’s out-bid a number of other contenders for the spot in a Vatican City ‘auction’ for the spot. We don’t know who the others were.
There are also questions in the air, apparently, about plans to open a Hard Rock Café outlet on the main boulevard leading to St. Peter’s. HRC has apparently agreed to tone it down a bit and sell only ‘approved’ souvenirs.
McDonald’s, on the other hand, is probably interested in being close to the Vatican to take it’s anointed slice of the tourist traffic, especially when Pope Francis holds a special service in St. Peter’s Square. Those events usually attract crowds in the hundreds of thousands. They must be hungry and thirsty after those long sermons. And imagine the line-ups for the bathrooms!
Also…
We wonder if Ronald McDonald will be a particularly welcome guest in Vatican City, what with the epidermic of Creepy Clown terror currently sweeping the globe. I had to mention it. I was not afraid of clowns of any sort when I was a kid. But I knew kids who were. And the clowns in question, then, were in no way intended to be scary. Now, kids are learning to be afraid of clowns, mainly thanks to the media’s frantic reporting about the mysterious, Creepy ones. Could this whole Creepy Clown thing mean early retirement for the heretofore beloved Ronald? But that’s another story, for another day, probably on another blog.
Anyway…
The Cardinals have written a formal letter to the Pope asking him to intercede and get the restaurant moved. It remains to be seen how cooperative the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which manages the Vatican’s real estate, will be. It – that is, the Church – stands to lose rent of (EU)30,000 a month if the project does not go through.
We’ll be watching this one with interest…
~ Maggie J.