The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-07-12
WILLIAM p. LARkIN, AMERICAN
DIRECTOR OF x. OF c. OVER
SEAS WORK, WRITES OF HIS
VISIT TO POPE BENEDICT XIV.

I stepped into the study of His
Holiness the Pope, as any humble son
of the Church might, little nervous,
but mighty lot curious, with great
deal of reverence to balance the two.
Archbishop Cerretti, assistant secre-
tary of state, introduced Edward L.
Hearn of New Rochelle, Overseas
Commissioner for the Knights of Co
lumbus, and myself, while Monsignor
Tiberghien had the two of us under
his wing. We had no sooner passed
the picturesque Swiss Guards and
gone on through the different magnif
icent rooms-some of the 1000
chambers in the Vatican-on through
the doorway of the deep, but not toe
imposing study, when Pope Benedict
dressed in white, comes towards us
walking as far as the center of the
room from a desk near the window
We met him there, knelt and kissed
the pontifical ring, and then seated
ourselves before him, one to the left
and one to the right.
wi
alert personality. There is about
Benedict XIV some facial quality that
gives immediate notice of the sheer
brain-poWer of the man. He has deeI
set, snappy black eyes, which look
at you intently and then move swiftly
to read another face in the group
He has quick little gestures of the
hand while speaking, and a ricl
nervous voice decidedly pleasant t.
hear
The Pope spoke to us in French
rapidly at times, yet it was easy tc
follow him.
He surprised me with his knowledge
of the names of men prominent il
New York and other American cities
First of all he spoke of Archbishop
Hayes, with what interest he had fol
lowed the career of New York's
Archbishop, from the time when he
was parish priest up until the day
when the Pope himself decided tt
appoint him to the most importan
Archdiocese in the new world. | haC
gone to the Vatican with credentials
from the Archbishop.
Praises x. of c. Work.
His Holiness, [ found, was mos
impressed with the future of Amer
lea He shared the establishment O.
other keen students of times at the
war effort this country had made, ant
he reported that he had heard moth
ing but words of praise for the Amer
lean fighting man.
81 have met many of your youns
fighting men, said the Pope. 1.-THE
Knights of Columbus secretaries brins
them here for audience. They Away:
impress me with their fine, vigorous
youth"
His Holiness then went over certain
documents | handed him giving de
work of the Knights of Columbus
His keen eyes scanned each page, anC
as he read figures under various
divisions he calculated "Bene!" ant
made running comments which
showed that this was not the frs
time he had studied our undertaking
He even knew we'll many of thu
chaplains who had gone overseas il
the uniform of the K. of c.. He SPOKE
of some of them affectionately b.
name. l found, too, that His Holiness
had heard of the late Joyce Kline
of the New York Times. The Pope
was quite familiar with the ightins
tradition of the SiXty-ninth Regiment
and when | related to him that Fathe
Duffy, the chaplain of, the SiXty-ninth
had said, when importuned by news
paperman for an interview, that thu
neWspaperman could say most any
thing in Father Duffy's name so Ions
as he didn't say anything that nigh
offend the Pope. His Holmes
laughed heartily, and l had an oppor
tunity to observe his white teeth
although he is soundly past middl,
age-he is now, | think-in his sixty
eighth year, yet he shows none of tn
signs of an old man. He question:
with all the eagerness of youth, ant
when the answer is especially apt, o
of the nature of repartee, he smile
broadly and cries Bravo"
The Pope is well aware of the base
| less propaganda against the Holy Sc
| for it's attitude during the war; bu
he is quite satisfied that time viii
prove the wisdom and justice of hi
course, which was one of strict net
trality throughout and a firm cor
demnation of the breaking of the law
of war. The official journal of tn
| Vatican has prepared an article stat
ing the Pope's position Throughout
| the war, which when read in col
blood by many of those who excitabl
made accusations, the Holy See, dul
ing the war, will convince them tina
the Holy Father did everything in hi
| power to mitigate the horrors of wa
| for those poor unfortunates upo
/ whom these horrors fell with usua
| violence.
League of Nations.
His Holiness was thoroughly a.
quainted with all that was being sal
| concerning the League of Nations
He did not discuss the League, nc
did he discuss the Peace Treaty; bu
he did applaud warmly the utteranc
made by Supreme Knight James I
Flaherty of the K. of c. when b
lined-up the Knights against Bolsh