The Press: Pope, Press & Archiater

Pope Pius XII was a gracious man who met the 20th century publicity attending his office with tolerance and sophistication. At his investiture in 1939, the flashbulbs of news photographers flared for the first time inside St. Peter's Basilica. During his reign, he must surely have learned of the longstanding system under which the Vatican press corps hired—and even bribed—tipsters (usually laymen) on the papal staff. When, a few years ago, the papal physician peddled pictures of his patient down on the floor doing pushups, the Pope—with a grace few men could have...