Pigeons at St. Paul

Were a theatre-man to stage the installation of any one of the 15 Roman Catholic archbishops in the U. S. he would undoubtedly make the ceremony rich, colorful, magnificent. But he might not have the inspiration to point the scene by having a flock of birds flutter overhead. In St. Paul, Minn, last week, not one but three flights of pigeons encircled the Cathedral dome in bright sunlight during the episcopal procession and installation of Most Rev. John Gregory Murray, 54, new Archbishop of St. Paul.*

Since the death of Archbishop Austin Dowling in 1930, the see (15,233 sq. mi.; 280,346 Catholics) has been vacant. To fill it Pope Pius XI appointed a genial prelate who was once a newsboy on the streets of Waterbury, Conn. Archbishop Murray was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford in 1920, first native of Connecticut to attain to the hierarchy. He became Bishop of Portland, Maine in 1925. To see him installed in St. Paul last week came many a priest from Maine, four Eastern bishops, Minnesota's Governor Floyd B. Olson, and, impressively, that tall, aristocratic prelate who is the Vatican's Apostolic Delegate to the U. S., Most Rev. Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi.

Into St. Paul Cathedral pushed 6,500 persons, nine of whom swooned away from heat and pressure. Archbishop-Designate Murray kissed a crucifix, blessed himself with holy water, was given a Papal blessing by Mgr. Fumasoni-Biondi, heard himself elevated by the reading of a Papal Bull, took his crozier, kissed the altar. Said he: ". . . My feeble words fail to express the profound gratitude of my soul. I am as the great apostle himself, stricken dumb and blind on the way to Damascus. ... I am dismayed at my own helplessness. I can only cry out with the Apostle of the Gentiles [St. Paul]: 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' "

To newshawks Archbishop Murray declared he preferred walking or trolley-riding to automobiling, added: "I do only the things I'm supposed to do, and then only at the last minute."

*Most-mentioned birds in the Bible are doves, familiar symbol of the Holy Ghost.

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