I saw a two-year-old posting that asked whether Pope Pius XII blessed American troops during World War II, and I found a little piece of information from Facts on File 1945, p. 104, that might help answer the question. A Saturday, March 31, 1945, report says: Rome dispatches say Pope Pius XII received thousands of United Nations troops today in a general audience in honor of Rome's first Easter celebration since the Germans were driven out.