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 .