Church everlasting – despite its friends

IN his letter headlined ‘Church will survive despite the media’ (January 4), Eamon Reilly reminded me of an incident that is said to have occurred as Napoleon marched on Rome.

One morning, a distressed young cleric entered the office of the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Consalvi.

“Your eminence,” he wailed, “the situation is very serious. Napoleon wishes to destroy the church.”