On the last day, I met him.

After shadowing his every step for a week, I met Pope Benedict XVI on the return flight.

Veterans of papal trips told me it was tradition for any journalist on their 'virgin' flight to get a picture taken with the pope.

However, as the group got bigger, and the popes got older, that tradition fell by the wayside.

But I guess being Al Jazeera's first reporter ever to fly with the pope warranted an exception.

I have to thank the remarkable persuasive skills of one of my fellow papal watchers for arguing my case so successfully with the Vatican press officer.

I was taken from the back of the plane to the first class section. The pope sits at the very front, surrounded by cardinals, security and his secretaries.

But the seat next to his was empty and he seemed to be in contemplation, oblivious to the commotion around him.

His press secretary waited a few minutes before getting his attention. Then, with the official Vatican photographer in place, I sat next to him.

Papal warmth

He looks kinder in real life. He's often accused of being aloof, an intellectual who can't connect with people like Pope John Paul II, his predecessor, could, but I was taken aback by his warmth.

20095144811802580_3.jpgHe held my hand tight in both of his and spoke in the soft tone of a grandfather.

The meeting took less than a minute and I'm now full of regrets... should I have asked him something? Does one have an opinionated exchange with God's representative on earth?

Not this time. I was whisked to the back of the plane, where the other Vatican journalists were ready to quiz me so they could write their 'Pope meets Al Jazeera' articles.

We landed back in Rome soon after and everyone said goodbye like you do at the end of a school trip.

Some of the Italian journalists may have been a bit too close to the Vatican for my liking, but they were incredibly welcoming and friendly, as well as achingly funny.

Flying as part of the pope's entourage was interesting, but often frustrating.

You get the best televison pictures, front row at every event and a sense of how the Vatican thinks the trip is going.

But having to stick to the pope's schedule means you don't have the opportunity to gauge first hand the impact that his visit and speeches are having.

I worked as part of a team with my Al Jazeera colleagues in Amman, Jerusalem and the West Bank but, had that not been the case, it would have been nearly impossible to give the whole picture of the trip.

Vatican favours

The Catholic church has been struggling with its public relations, so it was interesting to see the dynamics of the Vatican media entourage at work.

The vast majority of the journalists were from the Italian or Catholic media, and the Vatican seemed to give them a disproportionate amount of importance.

Often Italian newspapers would get better access than international outlets with ten times their readership.

The Vatican may still enjoy high status in Italy, but scandals of paedophilia in catholic institutions, coupled with blunders like the pope's 2006 comments about the Prophet Mohammed, have damaged the image of the church around the world.

These are difficult topics that the church should not shy away from if it wants to tackle them properly and regain the trust of millions of people.

The Italian media may be more subservient, but it's not necessarily representative.

And the Vatican hierarchy should be aware that what it reads in the Italian newspapers does not always reflect the opinion it's held in around the world.