The Tension of Papal State and I

Saturday was my first Rome Seminar Class. The class was about how to Blog and was taught by Ms. Canady. I have never blogged before, so I am really new at it. She told us that the title is one of the most important things in a blog because that is what catches the readers attention. I had a hard time with my title because I didn't want it to be too boring or too straight-forward. But anyways, I am supposed to tell of myself and my reasons for applying for the scholarship and a part of the timeline. My name is Jessica M. I reside in Sacramento, California. I have not ever been able to travel, I have only been to Red Bluff which is 2+ hours from Sacramento to visit my grandma. I also been on college trips with my school. I have always wanted to travel, visit other places, see the world beyond my surroundings. I have never thought about traveling to another country while still in high school, I thought that was just for people with money which I am not. Traveling is one of my many wishes and I was going to do it in college but when I heard of this oportunity I just had to jump on it. I do not come from a family with a lot of money, most of the money goes directly to the household, so that is why I want to take full advantage of this opportunity. I have always wanted to visit Europe because that is where my roots come from and because I want to walk through all the history that took place only a few years ago. Rome has all the hisory, art, and much more. One of the things that was very interesting to me was the Papal State section. It was one of the most interesting things because that was the time period when Rome was pretty weak. It was also when the Catholic Church was trying to rise and be the main religion of Italy. Martin Luther has started a movement in the 16th century and and the Church tried to stop it by giving the Pope more power. After that all the Popes that came in power would use it like Pope Paul the 3rd who reestabllished Inquisition and Pope Paul IV who used cencorship. That was when there became a religious war between the Catholic and Protestant Kings. The Catholic Church became more bold during this whole thing and criticized every new dicscovery that could hurt the church. By the 17th century Pope Paul V came in control. Even though he was known for his religious devotion he invested heavily into the arts. He helped build the many fountains in Rome to show that the church was encouraging. He employed Bernini who made the famous statue "David" and Pope Urban VIII in 1603 made Bernini chief sculptor and architect of the Vatican. When I learned of all this it made me want to visit Rome and walk through those areas and feel the tensions. When I learned of this I kind of can relate. As I grew up I was raised to believe in god and be a Christian. When I was 8 or so we did not go to church at all. So I kind of lost my faith in God. Two of sisters still belive in God along with my grandma. I am not sure of my parents and my two brothers, but I think they do. My sister and I lost our faith in God, we are not sure if he is there or not, we are lost. So I relate to this section because just as Rome was going through this religious war between Protestants and Catholics, I am going through a religious struggle of whether or not I truly believe in God. I want to go on this trip to learn more about Rome, walk through the history, and to find myself. I am thankful for this opportunity. -Jessica M.