The Triple Tiara

Many things a Pope can do which are denied to other men. One thing which Pope Pius XII could not do last week--so it was reported--was to get 50 extra tickets for his own coronation in St. Peter's Basilica. For before last Sunday, when the coronation was performed with pomp befitting the first such occasion since the Vatican again became a temporal state in 1929, some 71,000 tickets to St. Peter's had been distributed, and six times as many applications had been turned down.

Diplomats, nobles, ecclesiastics, ex-royalty and representatives of reigning royalty filled the stands and ramps of St. Peter's when a glittering procession moved into the Basilica. Attendants waved great ostrich-feather fans, as the frail Holy Father, deathly pale, entered seated on his high sedia gestatoria (portable throne), garbed in a vast white cope.

As the procession filed through the Basilica, Pius XII was halted thrice. Before him a master of ceremonies thrice lit wisps of flax, chanting: "Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi." Thus was the Visible Head of the Holy Church reminded that, even for him, the world's glories pass.

Without, some 200,000 people packed St. Peter's Square, eager to see a Pope crowned in public for the first time since 1846 (before the Popes became "prisoners" in the Vatican). The people waited patiently while, within, Pius XII went through long rituals. At last the Pontiff appeared on St. Peter's balcony. The great moment arrived. Cardinal Deacon Caccia-Dominioni chanted "Accipe tiaram" (Receive the tiara). The crowd below saw the Cardinal lift the gem-studded, beehive-shaped triple crown of the papacy and place it on the head of its wearer. Then the multitude dropped to its knees as Pius XII raised his hand in blessing.*

Diplomacy. Forty nations sent diplomatic missions to the coronation, including the U. S., represented by Ambassador to England Joseph Patrick Kennedy. Germany, however, sent no envoy. What were to be the relations between the Third Reich and the Holy See, was the biggest question of Pius XII's first week of rule.

The Pontiff had received in audience the German Ambassador to the Vatican. He had also received the four German Cardinals in what was described as a "conference" rather than an audience. This gave the impression that Pius XII was seeking a rapprochement with Germany. Then the new Pope appointed his Secretary of State and the impression was overturned. His choice was a man distasteful to the Fascist nations: Luigi Cardinal Maglione, 62.

Cardinal Maglione is a seasoned diplomat who went to school with Eugenio Pacelli, has in recent years been Papal Nuncio in Switzerland and in France. When he was sent to France in 1926, he was coldly received as "pro-German." Before he left in 1936, he had grown so close to the French Government that he was reported to have had a hand in the Hoare-Laval peace offer during the Italo-Ethi-opian War. Last week, before he was named, the German and Italian Governments actively opposed Cardinal Magli-one's candidacy for Secretary of State.

The choice of Cardinal Maglione did not, however, mean that Pius XII had decided on a pro-French or pro-democratic foreign policy. It meant primarily that the new Pope had picked the most competent diplomat whom he could find to head the Papal diplomatic service, which is one of the ablest in the world. At all times the Vatican resists encroachments, Fascist or otherwise, but its tactics are based on two main principles: 1) never to become identified with any one government, or type of government; 2) that it is never a mistake to be on slightly bad terms with a government.

* In more than 125 Roman Catholic churches in 90 U. S. cities, kneeling throngs heard the Pope's blessing, at the climax of a broadcast which went out on the combined networks in the early hours of Sunday morning.

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