Religion: Speed

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The Pope, a hot-rodder might say, has a heavy foot. When he drives from Rome to Castel Gandolfo, 79-year-old Pius XII usually leans forward in his Cadillac, stop watch in hand, ready to complain to the chauffeur if the 17.4-mile trip takes 19 instead of 18 minutes.

Last week the Pope had something to say about speed to participants of the second world congress of the International Road Federation: "Individuals, societies and nations must enter a universal race for greater and greater speed to the glory of God . . . Dispensaries, teachers and missionaries must now travel by speedway, bringing health of body and soul faster than ever before . . . He would be a heartless man who opposed building of speedways and their use."

But while "speed there must be to the glory of God, and it is essential ever to increase it," the Pope warned that "it must be accompanied by courtesy, which is in the Christian tradition, and prudence, which is one of seven virtues . . . Those long lines of cars driving along speedways must be impelled by the desire to serve, not to dominate."

Italian motor-scooter enthusiasts, often harshly criticized for their desire to dominate the road, were still glowing at the Pope's understanding words to a group of Vespa riders: "Those who complain of your noise, do they ever think that your speed may take you to church in time for Mass, or that you may be rushing a sick person to the hospital? Be patient with those who abuse you."