Around him in the compartment, and in the tourist compartment behind him, were 130 of his well-wishers and supporters, participants in this “Pilgrimage to Rome.” That was Mike Furia’s name for it. When Joe Cohane headlined it in the archdiocesan paper, the grandiosity made Matthew Mahan slightly uncomfortable. Behind their jet on the runway, he could see a second 707, also loaded with pilgrims. In the glow of the runway lights, the golden griffin of the Mahans reared ferociously, just behind the cockpit window. Both planes had the Cardinal-to-be’s coat of arms painted on them. They remained essentially the same as his Archbishop’s shield. Only the color of the papal hat and tassels had changed from green to red, and the number of tassels running down from the hat had increased from ten to fifteen.He was on his way to the Eternal City, as the newspapers kept calling Rome, with well over 200 well-wishers to cheer him at this self-described “greatest moment” of his life. Why wasn’t he happier?
