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Michelangelo, "Doni Tondo (Doni Madonna)," via Wikipedia
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Courtesy of Chris Naffziger
Peace had returned to Europe. It was the year 1949, and while there was still turmoil as the Cold War began to settle into the continent, transatlantic travel was once again possible. Just in time for 1950, Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, John P. Cody, was preparing for the Jubilee celebration in Rome. Back in 1950, however, airplane travel to Europe, while possible, was still not commonplace. A recently discovered brochure from 1949 gives fascinating insight into how the wealthy and well-connected traveled to Europe and where they visited.
John P. Cody is an interesting figure. He was born in St. Louis, the son of Irish immigrants, and went on to study the priesthood and earn two doctorates. After serving as the auxiliary bishop of St. Louis under Archbishop Joseph Ritter, he became the became the bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The height of his career, however, came, when he was appointed as the archbishop of Chicago. The archbishop later became a cardinal, and served as cardinal priest of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, an honorific title as transcontinental travel most likely did not allow him to see his church in Rome very often.
Jubilee Years were announced by popes, and in this instance it was Pope Pius XII, who had reigned through World War II. Jubilees were celebrations of the church, and encouraged pilgrimage to Rome and its ancient basilica churches (Pope Francis, by the way, has declared 2016 a Jubilee year, specifically a "Jubilee of Mercy"). It was not cheap for St. Louisans: according to calculations, the price of even the least expensive ticket for Bishop Cody’s trip, $922, is the equivalent of $9,110.28 in 2106 dollars. The most expensive ticket, $1,332 in first class on the Cunard White Star Lines’ ships, is $13,161.49. By comparison, the average wage in America in 1950 was $3,210.00, or $31,718 in 2016. The pamphlet explained that there would be two more possible itineraries in addition to the above mentioned tour. The pamphlet also helpfully recommends not bringing more baggage than one person can easily carry, advice that study abroad professors still try to inculcate on their young charges to the present day.
Guests were expected to get to New York City, where they set sail to Cherbourg, France. From there, accompanied by the auxiliary bishop, they caught a “boat train,” presumably a sort of shuttle, to Paris, where the adventures began. It is interesting looking at the list of the sights visited in the City of Lights; in many ways, the major tourist attractions have not changed in the last 80 years.
After three days in Paris, the trip took on more of a pilgrimatic tone as the train brought them to Lourdes, to this day still a popular destination. For this shrine, the group stayed for two days, visiting various grottoes and churches in the town. After that devotional stay, the next stop was Nice, on the French Riviera. The pilgrims then embarked for Monte Carlo—hardly a religious destination.
Rome, the intended destination of the pilgrimage and Jubilee, came next, after a train ride via Genoa. Unlike modern tourists, who tend to focus on the Roman Empire or Italian Renaissance, the stops in Rome focus much more on Roman Catholic tradition. First came an audience with the pontiff himself, Pius XII, and then a visit to four of the early Christian basilicas around the city. Of course, many of those churches have been substantially renovated or replaced over the centuries, but St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore are the same basilicas that any Roman Catholic visiting the city since the Fourth Century would have seen. And as is still the same today, the Bishop Cody took his companions to the American Church in Rome, St. Susanna, which is still the national church for the United States to this day.
No trip to Italy would be complete without then visiting Florence, described by the pamphlet as a “city of treasures of Renaissance art and architecture.” Shockingly, the itinerary for the one day in Florence is extensive, and included the visiting of numerous churches and museums. For some reason, Michelangelo’s Holy Family receives marquee status, and in the entirety of the travel brochure it is the only one mentioned by name besides Leonardo’s Last Supper in Milan. Perhaps the bishop considered the sculptor’s painting one of his favorites. Milan served as the next stop, and the brochure curiously, out of all of its many attributes, describes the city’s cathedral as the “greatest marble building in the world.” Certainly that is true.
At this point, “Itinerary A” ended, and if the pilgrims desired so, they then caught the train back to Cherbourg. Tour B and C included northern Europe, including some decidedly Protestant countries such as England. It would have been fascinating to see London in 1950; the heavy damage from the Blitz would still be under repair, and the scars of war would have been omnipresent. Also of interest is what is not included. One would imagine that the tour would have included Cologne, with its mighty Gothic cathedral, or Dresden, the Florence on the Elbe. Of course, those cities lay in ruins, and in the case of the latter, behind the Iron Curtain. But for a brief instant, those St. Louisans who could afford the price possessed the opportunity to participate in the Jubilee of 1950, at a watershed moment in world history.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.
