It was 8:29 in Rome of a bright spring morning. A vast, good-humored mob filled St. Peter's Square, craned necks toward the Arch of Bells. Suddenly the cheers exploded. Through the Arch of Bells into the square came Pope Pius XII, in gold-embroidered cape, followed by a brilliantly robed procession. The Pope climbed into a glistening, open-topped convertible sedan. Into nine other limousines clambered his retinue. By a devious four-mile route across Rome, past kneeling and cheering thousands, past the packed stands in the Via dell' Impero, the Pope's motorcade wound its slow way.
At 8:52 the procession halted in the courtyard...
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