The Vatican launched its chartered air service for pilgrims headed to Lourdes this week, but travelers on the way back had to dump their precious bottles of holy water. The headrests may be emblazoned with the Latin words for “I search for your face, oh Lord,” but even those on a mission for God can’t carry more than 100ml of liquid, holy or not, onto the plane. From The Telegraph:
Many hoped to ferry the water back to sick relatives.
Instead, dozens of plastic containers in the shape of the Madonna were left at security, while one man decided to drink all of his.
One passenger drank all of his holy water rather than discard it…
Monsignor Liberio Andreatta, the official on board from the Vatican’s travel agency, did not even try to argue with the rules, to the dismay of the pilgrims.
Many passengers asked the police how they could be foolhardy enough to throw away the miraculous water, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.