When Paul VI received President Kennedy at the papal court

If you wish for a taste of the first visit of a United States President to the Vatican in July 1963 , listen to this programme in which Veronica Scarisbrick brings you echos of that meeting , including sound bites of Paul VI's address to John Fitzgerald Kennedy:
"With great joy do We welcome Your Excellency to the Vatican, recalling with true happiness Our first meeting almost twenty-five years ago, when, as a young man, you accompanied your parents to the coronation of Pope Pius XII, Our venerated Predecessor of happy memory. We remember too, with particular satisfaction, the many pleasant occasions on which We received your honourable father.
Your Excellency now comes once again, this time as the President of that noble nation, the United States of America. We have visited your beautiful land, and as We travelled from one great city to another, We were able to experience personally the many admirable qualities which have made yours a leading member of the family of nations. The warm and sincere hospitality which was extended to Us wherever We went has left upon Us a lasting impression. The many churches that dot the American countryside and the spires reaching high over the cities are indicative of the spiritual awareness and convictions of your people. We witnessed the industry, the imagination and the dedication which have transformed the vast riches of your natural resources into a very high standard of living for your citizens. Nevertheless,, in the midst of this hard-won abundance, your country has not forgotten the high ideals of its first beginnings, nor neglected the poorer nations, and especially those new emerging states which are striving to give their people the benefits of freedom under law. At no little cost, the United States has extended to all of them a very generous helping hand. This sympathetic understanding and generosity cannot but generate a lasting friendship built of mutual respect and bring additional blessings upon the citizens of your land. "....


This speech delivered by the Pope during the audience with the first Catholic President of the United States took place only a couple of days after this Roman Pontiff's coronation.

It highlights Paul VI's awareness that the world the young American President represented was modern, vital and projected into the twenty-first century while he himself was surrounded by a papal court still deeply anchored in the pomp and ceremony of the past.

Over the years Veronica spoke to some of those who witnessed that era and discovered how while the new Pope may have been determined to change this situation, eager to bring the Church closer to the modern world, his attempts to do so were often misunderstood ..

In this programme , which begins with the words of the coronation of the triple crown , you can listen to the testimonies of some of those who belonged to that papal court .

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