Harry And The Pope

Posted by David McMahon, Melbourne, Australia

An ancestor of ours, Harry Verney, had an interesting connection with the Roman Catholic faith. He was rather a well-heeled member of the gentry, and was on horseback somewhere in Europe. During his journey, he found a priest huddled beside a path. He stopped to see if the priest needed any assistance - and realised that he was actually critically ill.

Harry called a temporary halt to his journey and stayed beside the priest to nurse him back to health. The story has a wonderful ending. The priest recovered fully and never forgot how Harry had stopped to save his life. He became a Cardinal and eventually became the Pope. In true Christian tradition, he invited an honoured guest to the Vatican.

The guest's name was - you guessed it - Harry Verney.