2014-07-04 11:11:00

USO Rome dates from WWII encounter between Pope, general


(Vatican Radio) Americans celebrate the anniversary of their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain today (July 4th).  The Declaration of Independence was adopted on this date in 1776.

Americans in Rome have commemorated the anniversary in a number of events this week, and in talking to some of them, we discovered a bit of interesting Vatican history that takes us back to WWII when the first American troops entered the Eternal City and liberated Rome.

Listen to Tracey McClure’s interview with Patriana Zancani, Operations Manager of the USO Rome center about how the office came about:

 

In June 1944 when Pope Pius XII heard that Allied troops had freed Rome, legend has it that he sent Monsignor Walter J. Carroll to invite the commanding U.S. General, Mark Clark, for an urgent meeting with him in the Vatican. Msgr Carroll rode his bicycle from the Vatican to Piazza Venezia where the surprised General insisted he was “not presentable to meet the Pope as he still needed a shower and a shave.”

But the Monsignor insisted on the urgency of the Pope’s request, so the two men rode back to the Vatican by bike.  Warmly greeting the General and congratulating him, the Pope asked,   "Now that we have so many American soldiers in Rome, what can we offer them 'to deliver them from evil' and keep them out of trouble in this town?”

The encounter led to the creation of what was first called the “American Catholic Club for Allied Forces” and thanks to the Pope, it opened its first headquarters right down the street from St. Peter’s basilica on Via della Conciliazione.

No longer located as close to St. Peter’s but not far from the Vatican, the organization is now known as the USO Rome center – one of many worldwide offices of the United Service Organizations which care for U.S. troops far from home.

Today, the Rome center offers a welcoming place to take a break from the city’s chaotic traffic and offers guidebooks, information and advice for visitors.  They also help book transportation and hotel arrangements, offer tours of the city and the occasional trip to Italian wine country. But people will also find rosaries blessed by the Pope and assistance in special needs reservations for papal audiences and masses or for ordering a papal blessing…








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