Word: spellmans
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...most significant aspect of his seven years in the Vatican was his friendship with Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII. No two men could have presented a greater contrast. Thin to the point of ascetism, Pacelli towered over Spellman, whose round, beaming face invariably drew the adjective "cherubic." Yet when the chubby Yankee Irishman was consecrated a bishop in St. Peter's in 1932, he wore the same vestments that the patrician Roman had worn at his own consecration. Returning to the U.S., Spellman served as auxiliary bishop of Boston and two months after the elevation of Pius...
...Connell, who had never much appreciated his rising young assistant, was simply chagrined. "Francis," he said, "epitomizes what happens to a bookkeeper when you teach him how to read." The comment was neither charitable nor accurate, but it did contain at least one grain of truth. In 28 years, Spellman put up the greatest mass of ecclesiastical building in history-well over $500 million for schools, churches and other institutions-earning for himself an unquestioned reputation as the church's master builder...
...Dais. Though Spellman never openly favored a political candidate, he was a powerful influence in New York and sometimes in the nation. He frequently made known his preference for a candidate by the choice of main speaker at his annual Al Smith Memorial Dinner. In 1948 the man on the dais was Thomas Dewey; in 1952 he was Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1960 John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon shared the honors, evidence of the cardinal's neutrality. As a subtle behind-the-scenes mover, Spellman was the equal of any of his guests...
...Spellman lost a measure of power with the death of Pius XII, and his conservative theology and sometimes rigid ways set him apart somewhat from the new church. Yet he enjoyed his greatest triumph when he played host to Pope Paul VI in 1965-the first time that any Pope had set foot in the Western Hemisphere. The cardinal had grown feeble in recent years, but he kept up his round of appearances at dinners and parades. It was appropriate that just a few hours before he died he had stopped in at two dinners at the Waldorf-Astoria, including...
Died. Francis Cardinal Spellman, 78, leading prince of the Roman Catholic Church in America (see RELIGION...