I have some very vivid memories, for example,
what happened during the Holy Year
of 1975. I could have access Pope Paul VI whenever I needed to.
He had said to me, "You can come to me anytime; no problem. Just
phone my secretary, tell him that you want to talk with me. He'll
set it up." So on this occasion, I told the secretary about the
message I had gotten from the Italian Protestant layman in charge
of the Bible Society of Italy. He had said to me, "Could we team
up during the Holy Year and distribute to the pilgrims a portion
of the scripture as part of the Holy Year experience?" When I
passed this message to the pope, he was receptive, and said to
me, "That's a good idea. You may do that. In order to do so, I
want you to go and visit the cardinal in charge of the Holy Year
events and tell him that you have my permission to have that kind
of an event take place. It can be done on the front porch of the
Basilica of St. Peter." So I did. That meeting with the pope with
its follow-up with the cardinal in charge of the Holy Week was
an interesting experience, I'll tell you that!
I was one of the editors of America magazine.
One day the telephone rang and a voice said, "This is Cardinal
Suenens. I'm calling from Brussels. A friend of yours is sitting
by my desk telling me that I should talk to you about something."
Cardinal Suenens was one of the four moderators of Vatican II,
speaker of the house... He said, "I have accepted invitations
to talk to key faculty at important American universities about
the council as well as cooperation with Catholics in general.
I need an American priest always at my side to steer me in the
right direction to the right people and say the right things.
I need your help. I speak English but sometimes I may be misreading
my audience, and you'll get me back on track." Whew! It meant
traveling with him for a solid week. Just then the editor, Fr.
Thurston Davis, came in my room, and I asked him about this. He
said, "That's very important. Alright. Go ahead!" So I did.
