Word: vatican
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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Pope Pius XI, was awakened at dawn by an astonishing clatter of swords and the sound of soldiers' voices disturbing the peaceful courtyards of the Vatican. It was, Pius XI remembered suddenly, his 71st birthday. The "Noble Guard," and the rest of the Papal army were preparing a little military maneuver for him to review. The Pope arose, said mass, reviewed his tiny regiments, received thousands of congratulatory messages and reflected with pleasure that Italian Catholic school children were enjoying a holiday. Later, 50 newly pledged U. S. priests kissed his hand...
Spaniards of chivalrous and patriotic bent fetched dejected sighs, last week, at an authoritative report that the jaunty King Alfonso XIII has been constrained to consult the Vatican with a view to obtaining annulment of his union with Queen Victoria Eugénie, a tall and regal granddaughter of the late, dumpy British Queen-Empress Victoria...
...which was held in that city last week. The Pontiff proceeded to explain that he was not, in principle, opposed to athletics but that when competitions became too exhibitionistic, he felt compelled to frown. Governmental circles in Rome regarded the Pope's letter as another manifestation of the Vatican's opposition to what the Pope calls "Fascist monopolization of the education of youth." At the end of his document the Pontiff gave a hint as to how his own theories contrasted with Fascist practices. It was a calm and holy hint...
This done, the deputies returned and made report. Last week L. Osservatore Romano, official press spokesman for the Vatican, passed judgment on the fountain. In an editorial, it urged Prince Potenziani, Governor of Rome, to remove the "coarse exhibition," under the police regulations which permit him to protect the public against indecency. The official unveiling of the statue was postponed; crowds came hustling into the Square and stared at the fountain, from which no water rose...
More urbane was the reaction of Achille Ambrogio Damiano Ratti, Pope Pius XI, who was declared by Vatican officials to have "showed intense emotion" upon receiving the news, and to have then offered up prayers of thanks in his private chapel...