A Marker for St. Pat's

Tourists at St. Peter's in Rome, the largest church in Christendom, have long goggled at 16 inscriptions on the floor of the vast basilica, indicating the dimensions of big, famous churches of the world.* In 1950, Holy Year pilgrims will see a 17th marker, for the smallest church of all to be included--Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

New York's Cardinal Spellman first requested a marker for St. Pat's a year ago; last week, on a brief visit to Rome, he asked why nothing had been done about it. Vatican officials explained that plans for St. Patrick's marker had been held up at the last minute "because an American might not like to see his church the smallest." "Oh," replied His Eminence, "we don't mind being the littlest." The authorities promptly agreed to get St. Patrick's measurements on record -- and on the floor -- within a month.

Though it is the most famous Roman Catholic church in the U.S., 332-foot-long St. Patrick's would barely reach from the Chair of St. Peter to the beginning of the nave.

*The five largest so recorded, after St. Peter's: London's St. Paul's (Anglican), then the Roman Catholic cathedrals at Florence, Rheims, Milan and Cologne. Not included is the world's second largest church: New York's Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 601 feet long.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.