Our Geo Quiz today had us searching for a city-state in Europe that launched a new airline service today.

The answer is the Vatican.

Church officials there are offering Catholic pilgrims a new way to travel.

It's a charter service organized by the Vatican's pilgrimage office -- and run by a small Italian carrier called Mistral Air.

Father Cesar Atuire says the venture will take pilgrims to holy destinations around the world. And he says the travelers will be able to get in the right frame of mind before they even take off.

“We can actually use the aircraft as a location to prepare people while they're traveling on a pilgrimage. The crew has been informed that there are messages that will be transmitted, that films will be shown during the flight and at the same time we also make sure we reduce costs, so that more people can travel.”

The charter flights will serve pilgrims traveling to holy sites all over the world.

Those include Mount Sinai in Egypt, the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, the Holy Land, and the Shrine in Lourdes, France.

That's where today's inaugural charter flight landed.

Previously the Vatican organized bus tours for pilgrimages -- or arranged for flights on major airlines.

The new approach got a mostly positive reception from visitors to Saint Peter's Square in Rome today.

"We think its a very good idea..."
“...It's a wonderful, wonderful thing."

By the way, pilgrims using the new Vatican charter service should expect their flight attendants to be wearing yellow shirts, blue trousers, and a cravat decorated with the Vatican stem.