Pontiff plaudits
By Custis Haynes
This item appears on page 57 of the August 2014 issue.
This item appears on page 57 of the August 2014 issue.
This month’s winner is Custis Haynes of Grass Valley, California:
During the 1953 Easter vacation, my husband, Ed, and I had an audience with Pope Pius XII. We were massed together in the vast Vatican reception hall with a crowd of faithful Europeans and other Americans like us.
The Pope gave a fluent greeting to each nationality in its own language, and each nationality gave a fervent response.
The Italians roared, “Papa! Papa!” and the French, “Vive le Pape!” The German nuns launched into a rousing hymn.
Then he greeted the Americans — an uneasy moment… until an American serviceman rescued us.
He shouted, “Yay, Pope!”