The Good Pope by Greg Tobin

Author:Greg Tobin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

I remember the time Pope John, who had a big foot, which could take even a ten and a half, came to me and said, “Signor Carboni, you must make me a pair of shoes that are nice and big and don’t cramp my feet.”

A man with cramped feet, you know, will usually have cramped ideas in his head, and so His Holiness wanted a pair of shoes that wouldn’t cramp him in his work.

The pope didn’t have corns on his feet, but he did have a high instep, and the top of a shoe, if it was a bad fit, could cut his foot when he walked. He showed me the most comfortable pair of shoes he had ever had, made by his nephew, a shoemaker in Bergamo, and they were died purple. I was horrified at the color. Who ever heard of a pope wearing purple shoes?

“Holy Father,” I said, “you can’t wear purple shoes. It is not the pope’s color.”

Pope John thought for a bit, then he said, “But, Signor Carboni, I don’t want to hurt my nephew’s feelings. When I write him, I must tell him I am wearing the shoes he made for me.”

“Ci penso io,” I said. (I’ll take care of it.)

“Benissimo!” (Great!), exclaimed His Holiness. “You have solved my problem. You are a saint. You have made the first miracle of my reign!”

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