In the ecclesiastical histories of the Roman Catholic Church, the "miracle of Bolsena is treated with a certain reserve But in Orvieto, some 70 miles north of Rome, it is a matter of such vital consequence that last week it precipitated a local political crisis.
The miracle (so runs local legend) concerns a Bohemian priest, Peter of Prague, who, on his way to see the Pope in the year of 1263, was tortured by doubts whether the wafer he consecrated really became Christ's body, as church doctrine said it was. Miraculously at Bolsena, a small town near Orvieto, the Host began to bleed in Peter's hands. At Mass, spots of blood fell from the wafer onto the corporal, a white linen cloth upon which the chalice rests while on the altar.
Pope Urban IV, who was in Orvieto at the time taking refuge from a threatened invasion of Rome from Sicily, ordered the blood-sported corporal brought within the safety of Orvieto's walls. Inspired by the miracle (Orvietans declare), Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi. He then presented the corporal to the "good people of Orvieto who with much valor and sacrifice saved our person and protected us, thereby fully deserving the honor to protect the Lamb's blood as they saved the Lamb's vicar."
Four Keys to the Reliquary. Orvietans decided to build a cathedral (one of the most beautiful in all Italy) in which to keep their corporal. A Sienese artist, Ugolino di Vieri, was commissioned to make a reliquary to hold the corporal. Made of silver with exquisite enamel representations of Christ's Passion and tiny figures in true gold, the reliquary with the corporal has been Orvieto's proudest possession for more than six centuries. Because of a tendency by Orvieto's bishops to regard the reliquary as the exclusive possession of the church, there have been various papal bulls confirming Pope Urban IV's original directive that it belonged to the people of Orvieto. Ownership is today symbolized by the distribution of the four keys to the reliquary: one is held by the artist who cares for it and one each by the mayor, the town council, and the bishop. The possibility, unforeseen by Urban IV, that the mayor and certain of the town council might some day be Communists had not been considered—until a few weeks ago.
Humble Request. Mario Moretti, an Orvieto jack-of-all-trades, had the idea of exposing the reliquary to the multitudes at Rome in the Corpus Christi procession of this Holy Year. Moretti took his suggestion to Bishop Francesco Piero, who wrote to Pope Pius XII about it, was delighted when the Pope accepted the offer. In a notice posted on the cathedral walls, Orvieto's Bishop Piero announced: " ....Generously condescending to my humble request, His Holiness has granted that Orvieto's precious reliquary be carried in Rome's procession this jubilee year of 1950." Orvietans, gathered in front of the notice, were astounded. They turned to Communist Mayor Giuseppe Gregori for an explanation.