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*When in 1920 Pope Benedict XV looked about for a patron saint for airmen, he had not far to seek. At Loreto, overlooking the Adriatic, stood a Holy House which, by legend, was the onetime residence of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth. When in 1263 the Turks threatened it with destruction, a squadron of angels is supposed to have picked up Mary's house and flown it to a place near Fiume, thence to Loreto. By the Pope's decree the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto became "special patron with God of all things aeronautic." —
Because acroplano is not a true Italian word. Aviator-Poet Gabriele D'Annunzio coined, tried to popularize velivolo. It failed to take.