Hitler's Pope by John Cornwell

Author:John Cornwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Meanwhile, down in the piazza below, the papacy was not exactly making its peace with the city of Rome. The scene was witnessed by the English writer Hugh Walpole, who was in the thick of it.

Policemen had been pushing back the crowds that were pressing forward toward the steps of St. Peter’s, at the top of which were barriers to contain the guests who had emerged from the basilica to witness the moment of coronation on the loggia above. The surging mass of people “became rhythmical as though following music.” Then the good spirits deserted the crowd. People were punching and kicking. Walpole sensed his feet leaving the ground and had a premonition that he was about to be crushed to death. He fancied he saw Hilaire Belloc, now in his seventieth year, being lifted up into the air, waving a sandwich, and Tom Driberg in his evening dress and white gloves, “still smiling and courteous although he seemed to bend sideways.” Next Walpole felt as if he had been hit in the back by a huge wave. “I rushed as though I were eagerly greeting a friend, to the outer wall.” He was breathless, his waistcoat was torn and his shoes trampled to pieces. “I looked to the balcony, but the ceremony was over. I never saw Pope Pius crowned.”22

Eugenio Pacelli, Pius XII, was already being transported back to the hallowed precincts of the apostolic palace to begin his long and eventful reign.

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