Les Extravagances de Gastounet

Les Extravagances de Gastounet

If Quaker President Herbert Hoover should say: "We are a great Catholic nation and such we should remain!"--that would be news. In Vatican City last week Editor Count G. Dalla Torre of the Papal newsorgan Osservatore Romano thought he had news nearly as big. Just arrived was a communication from Jean Cardinal Verdier, new Archbishop of Paris (TIME, Dec. 2). Joyously the prelate reported that he had just had audience with the President of France, M. Gaston ("Gastou-net") Doumergue, stanch Protestant, who said (said the Cardinal): "Your Eminence is a representative among us of that immense moral force, the Catholic Church. Do not hesitate to act freely. The anticlericalism manifested in France is only superficial. We are a great Catholic nation and such we should remain!" No sooner was Osservatore Romano off the press than the French Embassy at Vatican City rang up Paris, was put through to the Elysee. Soon in Rome a big, French-nosed Renault sped from Embassy to Vatican. In the name of France an angry Frenchman made formal demand upon the Pontifical Secretary of State, Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, for complete retraction of Osservatore's story. "Mondieul", shrugged the Embassy press spokesman. "Is it likely that our Protestant President would say such things? Est-ce possible? Maisnon! Meme a un cardinal, notre bon Gastounet ne dirait pas de pareilles extravagances."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.