He had a day of his life, flower arrangement artist Piet van der Burg of Berkel en Rodenrijs. This Easter, he presented the Sea of Flowers in St. Peter’s Square in Rome and met the Pope.
The meeting between the flower artist and Pope Francis did not last long. “Then he let us stand in line and the Pope walked in. When it was my turn I wished him a happy Easter, then said in Italian: Thank you, flowers to you. Then he took my hand and thanked me,” he proudly told Omrup West.
For the Catholic van der Burgh, the meeting was very emotional. “You feel warm and grateful. (…) If you can decorate St. Peter’s Square with flowers and also meet the Pope, that is really the top. There were also non-religious people on our team who were also very impressed.”
This was the first time that he and his team were allowed to decorate the square in front of the basilica as principal curator. “A unique opportunity,” he says. “A lot of people aren’t allowed to do that. They have asked me to keep doing it for as long as possible and I want to.”
At the beginning of this year, it seemed that no Dutch flowers would go to the Vatican on Easter, because the patrons had pulled out.
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