Sedia gestatoria Maria in Aracoeli. Pope John Paul I initially declined to use the ceremonial throne carried on shoulders, along with several other symbols of papal authority, but was eventually convinced that it was necessary to make him visible to the crowds in Saint Peter's Square. He was the last pope to use the portable throne. Pope John Paul II discontinued the use of a throne carried on shoulders in 1978. Neither of his successors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, has revived it. The "sedia gestatoria" has been replaced outdoors by the motorized "Popemobile", which is often heavily protected and even
Religion in Algeria Ages onward. Each brotherhood had its own prescribed path to salvation, its own rituals, signs, symbols, and mysteries. The brotherhoods were prevalent in the rural and mountainous areas of Algeria and other parts of North Africa. Their leaders were often marabouts or shaykhs. The more orthodox Sunni Muslims dominated the urban centers, where traditionally trained men of religion, the ulema, conducted the religious and legal affairs of the Muslim community. Jews and Christians, whose religions Allah according to the Qur'an recognized as the precursors of Islam and who were called "people of the book" because of their holy scriptures, were