Italy's President Giovanni Gronchi, 72, was all aglow with anticipation. In flying off to Moscow, Christian Democrat Gronchi had overridden the protests of his ministers, had so vexed the Vatican that Italy's Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani had publicly denounced "men of high responsibility in the West" for their readiness "to shake the hand that slapped Christ in the face." But to restless Giovanni Gronchi, who believes in "an opening to the left," the Moscow trip seemed a prime chance to prove his mediating talents and to make Italy something more than just a junior partner in the Western alliance.
At Moscow...
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