Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-26
POPE MAY BLESS
| MILLION MAY 9
Pontiff Reported Going to
Church of st. John Lateran
on Ascension Day.

BY the Associated Press.
ROME, March ga strong report
In circulation Is that the Pope viii
bless 1,000,o00 persons on Ascension day
May 9. from the Church OF St. John
Lateran.
The first exit from the Vatican By
Plus XXI, breaking the SO years of vol
lntary imprisonment OF the heads OF
Catholicism. has been q puzzle, as ia
time and place, which diplomats and
politicians AS we'll as courtiers Of the
Pope and King were interested in solv-
Ing. All sorts OF suggestions were
anoat, but so far 1t was only a question
OF guessing. since no one knew when
the event would occur which will re-
move the last trace Of the Roman
question.
The Pope now Is reported to have
said, Il hope that my first visit outside
the Vatican will be to st. John Lateran. +"
First Of Christian Churches.
This is the first Of Christian churches,
having been conferred by Emperor Con-
stantine on the Bishop of Rome (the
Pope) as his Episcopal residence. st.
Sylvester, thirty-fourth in the chro-
nology of the Roman Pontiffs, was said
to have dug with his own hands the
foundation for the historic Basilica.
which is known as 1.-THE mother of ali
churches Of the Eternal City,
Originally the Basilica was dedicated
70 the Holy Savior, whose feast on
Ascension day this year falls on May Q.
On that day the Pope would like to re-
sumo the habit Of his predecessors by
reviving the ceremony Of taking pos
session OF the Lateran Basilica. where
before 1870 for fifteen centuries the
Popes were crowned after election.
Pope Plus would like also to take up
again the old custom Of appearing or,
Ascension day on the center balcony of
the church to impart his benediction to
the people massed in the square below.
which extends as far as the other Ba-
silica OF Santa Groce in Gerusalemme
10 called because 1t contains the por-
ton OF the true cross deposited there
BY the Empress Helena. This space IA
80 large that It has been estimated that
1000 persons could receive the papai
bcnediction.
Anxious to Visit Museum.
The Pope also Is most anxious to visit
the Missionary Museum, which he
founded in the Lateran Palace to hold
81 the OD1ectS sent to Rome by Roman
Catholic missions throughout the world.
This exhibition has In its center the
enormous hall where on February II
Cardinal Gasparri. pss9l secretary of
state. and Premier Mussolini signed the
treaty of Cancellation between the HOLY
See and the Italian state. The mu-
scum was inaugurated by Cardinal
vannutelli. dean of the Sacred College.
In December, 1926.
Everything possible has been done to
satisfy the desire Of the Pontiff. which
however. cannot be carried out unless
the Lateran treaty Is ratified and other
secondary but indispensable understand.
ings between the two states are com
pletely agreed upon.
Although the church of St. John
enjoys extra territorial rights. the Pope
must cross Italian territory to 10 there
and might be expected to be welcomed
and treated as a sovereign by all italian
authorities. The ancient gorgeous cavsl-
cade, IN the center OF which the pope
used to ride white mule In going from
the Vatican to st. John, now VIII be
substituted for by q fleet Of modern but
pfosaic automobiles.