Everyone could see there was something wrong with the normally spry old man who disembarked at Naples last week. The American Export Liner Independence was flying the white and yellow flag of the Vatican state, and 20-odd archbishops, monsignors, priests and politicos thronged to welcome the first American in history to be appointed to the potent Curia, headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. But throughout the hubbub of greeting, Samuel Alphonso Cardinal Stritch, 70-year-old Archbishop of Chicago, seldom spoke and did not once offer his ring to be kissed. He was wearing it, some noticed with surprise, on his left hand.
Soon...