The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-12-04
POPE BENEDICT FIFTEENTH

sometimes embarrassing. for it goes
to the heart of the subject and is never
easy to answer without long ex-
PLANTATION, to which the Pope listens
with the same patience as before.
Pope Eats Alone.
Having put in some hours after
this fashion, the Pope sits down all
alone to a dinner in which the Drin-
clpal items seldom vary-wine, bread
fruit, olives, macaroni, cheese, thick
gravy. Once in a while there NAV
be an omelet or perhaps lump of
stewed meat. A few years ago an
lnnovator thought the Pope ought to
near little music at his dinner and
the notes OF an orchestra reached his
ears from an adjoining gallery. His
Holiness was greatly shocked by the
llVeliness of the airs, which did not
seem to him to fit in with the heavi-
ness of the times. This experiment,
like that of tempting him with an Eng
lish dinner of roast beef and potatoes,
topped off with pudding, ended disas-
trously. There are no innovations
now, report the Roman dailies, and
they add that the Pope sticks to the
traditional etiquette of solitude when
he dimes. He always eats alone, re-
ports the London Mail, day after day,
week after week, month after month,
year after year There are days also
on which the Pope adheres to a rule of
silence and for tWenty-four hours he
Will not say word except when he is
at Mass. There are also days con-
Secrated to the observance of the fast
and the Pope dispenses with food dur
ing the entire twenty-four hour period.
He takes short nap every day when
he has finished his dinner.
A Great Diplomat.
THE genius of the Pope is diplO-
matte, and in that field has been
achieved the supreme triumph of this
pontificate. His methods are those of
that Cardinal Rampolla who so mar
rowly escaped election to the Pontifi-
cal throne some sixteen years ago,
and the Pope's ideal in ecclesiastical
craftsmanship, the Debats says, is Leo
XIII. The means seem best summed
up as a union of organization with in
formation, the information being won
derfully comprehensive and accurate
The Vatican seems at this moment the
greatest center of news and ideas in
all that relates to International af.
fairs, and its diplomatic establishment
is the best equipped and-this fact is
not so we'll knOWn-the most extensive
in the world. His Holiness takes a
direct personal interest in it's admins.
tratiOn, being always in touch with the
Cardinal Secretary of State. The dip,
lOmatic receptions at the Vatican are
the most splendid in Europe, and in
the opinion of many newspapers
abroad the most important. No nun.
clio leaves for his post without a final
audience with Pope Benedict, and no
nunciO returns without reporting di.
rectly to him. The Vatican policy is
not only determined by the Sovereign
POntiff but administered by him with
such careful attention to detail that
if we are to believe the Italian press
the staff of the Secretariat of State is
little more than clerical force. AS
for the ENJOYS of the Vatican in the
different capitals, they are held to
rigid standards of efficiency and the
elimination of the unfit is stringent.
The revival of the Vatican as great
power in diplomacy is the personal
achievement of Benedict XIV"