Well-wishers:Poor old "Twenty-Three". That is the man's name, admittedly in French - Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the Archbishop of Paris. Last Saturday, in the Paul VIth Hall in the Vatican, he cut a lonely if not slightly overlooked figure.
It was the occasion of the "Visite di Calore", the courtesy visit that anyone can make to the men who have just been been elevated to cardinal, in other words received their "red hat".
This is one of the most unusual days in the Vatican calendar since it allows every and anyone the chance to stroll through Vatican halls on the pretext of greeting the latest batch of "new boys" among the Princes of the Church.
The actual "visite" takes place in both the Apostolic Palace and the Paul VIth hall. On Saturday, it was not easy getting to either venue. The press pass opened no fast track as thousands of pilgrims and tourists took advantage of the occasion.
Once inside, there were, as usual, signposts indicating where to find a particular cardinal.
The ritual is really quite simple. The new cardinal sits or stands beside his own name in a corner of the room, or against the wall, while a crowd of well-wishers forms around him.
People jostle and elbow their way through, often stopping to have their photograph taken with the cardinal.
But there was the rub for poor old "Twenty-Three". He found himself in front of the stage in the Paul VIth Hall, flanked on one side by our own Cardinal Seán Brady and on the other by two Spaniards, Cardinal Agustin Vicente of Valencia and Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach of Barcelona.
As so often on Vatican occasions, there was a very large and enthusiastic Spanish (and Catalan) contingent. If anything, an even bigger crowd gathered around Cardinal Brady. But for poor old "Twenty-Three", hardly a sinner in sight.
Help was on the way. Over the hill, well down the aisle actually, came Martin McGuinness, deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland. He had come not so much to greet Cardinal Brady, with whom he had just had lunch in the Irish College, but to greet Brady well-wishers.
Beaming broadly, McGuinness was full of good wishes, looking like a small-town bank manager on a day out to the New York Stock Exchange. He exchanged a lot of greetings, shook a lot of hands and he, too, paused for photographs with the punters.
He was quick to tell us just what a great day it was for Ireland. He also expressed great confidence in the new wind of peace blowing through Northern Ireland, telling your correspondent to come back (to the North) in ten years to see what progress has been made.
Ever a gentleman, the Northern Ireland deputy First Minister also offered to shake hands with poor old "Twenty-Three", who was looking ever more abandoned. Who said that politicians only shake hands with voters?