FORTY YEARS A BISHOP

THESE ARE DAYS OF CONSOLATION FOR THE HOLY FATHER.
ON MONDAY THIS WEEK, THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS CONSECRATION AS BISHOP, HE RECEIVED TILE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, M. COTY. THE " ELDEST DAUGHTER OF T H E CHURCH", AFTER YEARS OF ESTRANGEMENT, HAD ONCE MORE THROUGH HER HEAD OF STATE RENDERED HOMAGE TO THE VICAR OF CHRIST, TO WHOM FRENCHMEN IN THEIR MAJORITY OWE SPIRITUAL ALLEGIANCE.
On that same day, the 13th day of Mary's Month, the record number of 800,000 pilgrims gathered at Fatima, Portugal, to celebrate the anniversary of the First of Our Lady's Appearances to three Portuguese peasant children.
This occurred on the very day that Pope Benedict XV was consecrating the young prelate, Mgr. Pacelli, now Pope Pius XII, as titular Archbishop of Sardi
within the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican.
The Pope's interest in Fatima is well known: he has given every encouragement to the devotion to Our Lady that has sprung up everywhere as the result of the extraordinary happenings there in 1917. He has promoted devotion to the immaculate Head of Mary, and. indeed, was himself reported to have witnessed in 1950 within the gardens of the Vatican the very phenomenon of the sun's rotation which had been one of the a° happenings
of the4t incidents
From everywhere in the world, his spiritual children have been sending him their congratulations on the anniversary of his consecration, literally thousands of telegrams pouring into Vatican post office over the week-end.
The Holy Father went out to admire a huge assembly of
flower petals, recalling the miracle. in the courtyard of St. Damasus inside the Vatican Palace. A huge carpet of firmer petals had been placed in artistic fashion depicting the Fatima Miracle, the Church of Silence. the Proclamation of the Holy Year by the Pope, and other important events of the Pontiff's reign.
After passing through the courtyard the Pope blessed a large gathering of pilgrims who had come to see the flower beds.