Articles

Mrs. Mason Talked With Pope, Visited The Italian Parliament
Journal and Guide, Norfolk , VA. , 18 January, 1947

NORFOLK -Her audience with the Pope Pius at the Vatican , and her visit to the Italian Parliament were mentioned in an interview by Mrs. Vivian Carter Mason as among the most interesting experiences she had on her recent tour of foreign countries.

Mrs. Mason will make her first public address since returning home on Monday night, Jan 20, at the First Baptist Church , on Bute street . Under the auspices of the Women's Auxillary of Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, the Rev. Richard B. Martin, rector. Asked to name the most beautiful city visited. Mrs. Mason stated “it is difficult to say because each city viewed has a beauty and a charm that distinguishes if from any other metropolis.”

“For instance Prague , the capital of Czechoslovakia , has many old buildings side by side of the most modern structures. The Parliament buildings viewed from across the river is an unforgettable sight.” Moscow , with its Byzantine architecture comfortably rivals the severe modern type of office and public buildings, and the enormous squares in the principal part of the city lend magnificence to the structures supporting it.

ANTIQUITY OF ROME

“ Rome wears antiquity well. Its everywhere and the love of art and the supremacy of the artistry of the Italian people find ample expressions in the thousands of statues adorning private dwellings and public buildings. The measured of the eternal city had me catching my breath.”

“ Berne in Switzerland , Stockholm in Sweden , all are beautiful and rich in parkways. In river views and unusual church edifices, but if I must select one I'll be Paris . Paris the elegant, the magnificent, the glamorous, indestructible, the queen of all lovely places has grandeur.”

“There is a grandeur about this famous city that is not alone in the broad spacious tree-lined avenues, nor in the well-kept lower laden parks, nor again in the massive and dominating stone figures of the heroes of the past French glory found everywhere.”

“It does not lie in the graceful arching bridges, the loveliest to be found anywhere, nor yet in the quiet flowing Seine that is spanned by them, nor in the hundreds of fascinating streets darting in and out that like as not house a world famous perfumer or couturier or jeweler. It is none of this, and yet all of it and more besides it is Paris the jewel, the dream of every traveler from every country in the world.”

AUDIENCE WITH POPE

Mrs. Mason reveals that in her audience with the Pope at the historic Vatican Palace she was in company with 50 other persons, many of whom had come from a far distance just to see his Holiness and were ardent Catholics with the exception of herself. Nevertheless she conversed and exchanged views with the Pontiff.

ITALIAN PARLIAMENT

It was very interesting, she said. When she visited the Italian Parliament and listened to a very graphic presentation of the difficulties confronting Italy at this time-the newly elected women and for the first time-took complete share of their responsibility in helping to formulate the government.

Mrs. Mason traveled by air for a good part of her trip and covered nearly 10,000 miles approximately 7,000 miles by boat and train. Her next jaunt she hopes will carry her to the West Indies Islands , South America and Africa , she admitted. ‘But this time, she said, I'd like to go for a newspaper or syndicate of newspapers.”

“It's a rich and varied life and I love it, but I wouldn't go again unless my husband and son could go too. I love my family too much to leave them alone, and for such a long time. It looks as though I'll do my future traveling by telegram which is really more comfortable, when you think about it.”