The Pope's Stone in the Washington Monument

American Catholic History

Noelle & Tom Crowe

History, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Education

5 • 724 Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1854 a slab of marble donated by Pope Pius IX arrived in Washington, D.C. He had it engraved “A Roma Americae,” or “From Rome to America,” as a sign of goodwill. He had sent it over to be included in the Washington Monument, which was then under construction. Many foreign governments had sent similar contributions to honor America’s first president. The Know Nothings, however, had no intention of allowing a gift from the Pope to be included in the Washington Monument. They were certain the stone was a sign of darker intentions by the Pope. So on March 9, 1854, under cover of darkness, a group of these anti-Catholics broke into the yard, stole the stone, and after damaging it with hammers they dropped it in the Potomac River. No one was ever credibly accused of the crime, despite reward offers and a public outcry. Many years later, however, after a tip, the stone was discovered… only to disappear again. But today, there is a stone from the Pope in the Washington Monument, this one was provided by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to American Catholic History, brought to you by the support of listeners like you.
0:11.0	If you like this podcast and would like to support our work, please visit Americancatholic
0:16.2	history.org slash support. I'm Noelle Heister Crow. And I'm Tom Crow.
0:21.6	Today we've got a bit of an unusual story.
0:24.4	We're not talking about a Catholic person or the founding of an order or diocese or a missionary.
0:29.6	Today we're talking about the Pope's stone.
0:32.8	This is a story of anti-Catholics asserting themselves and happily facing a strong backlash. Yes,
0:39.0	it's a story of mystery and intrigue. And it all centers on the construction of one of the
0:45.8	most recognizable and important structures in our country, the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
0:52.1	It's ironic, considering how favorable George Washington was towards Catholics, he'd probably
0:57.4	be appalled at the Pope, and thereby Catholics were targeted in this manner, especially
1:02.3	during the construction of a monument to him.
1:04.6	I know, right?
1:05.5	Back in 1775, he had personally ended the practice of the anti-Catholic Pope Knight, an American version of
1:12.8	Guy Fox Knight. We talked about this in episode 69. And there is strong evidence that Washington
1:18.3	may have become Catholic on his deathbed. We talked a whole lot about Washington and Catholicism
1:23.7	in episode 85, and we'll be visiting Mount Vernon on our pilgrimage in April.
1:29.1	It's where he lived and where he was visited by a Jesuit priest on his deathbed.
1:33.3	A priest whom he specifically summoned, let's be clear.
1:36.9	Yes, he specifically asked for a Catholic priest.
1:39.1	He was so favorably disposed to our Catholics, and Catholics were so fond of him, that it was only fitting
1:44.6	for Catholics and even the Pope to support the construction of a monument to him. So let's talk
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