Thursday, March 22, 2007

Good Works and Faith Are Found Everywhere.
Don King Does a Very Good Thing

Don King in Front Row for Pope
By DANIELA PETROFFThe Associated Press
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 11:28 AM

VATICAN CITY -- Don King got a front row seat at Pope Benedict XVI's general audience Wednesday. The usually flamboyant boxing promoter, wearing a blue suit with his preferred high hair style primly flattened for the papal event, gave the pope a green-and-gold boxing belt and a handwritten letter asking for prayers for people ranging from President Bush to the world's sick and aged.

"I was thrilled to be there. It was a deep spiritual experience," King told The Associated Press after the two-hour open-air audience in St. Peter's Square.

In Rome to discuss possible boxing matches in Italy, King had expressed his wish to meet with the pope.

"Faith is the thing that carries us through," the 75-year-old King said as he walked through St. Peter's Square, waving Italian and Vatican flags and signing autographs.

Don King Productions spokesman Alan Hopper said the Vatican visit was arranged through a boxer King represents _ Italian super welterweight champion Luca Messi, whose brother Alessandro is a Catholic priest.

King was seated in the front row of a special section on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica. He was able to hand the pope the gift and the letter as Benedict drove slowly by in an open jeep at the end of the audience.

King, who spent four years in prison for manslaughter, had hoped for a personal meeting with Benedict. Very few nonchurch people, however, receive private time with the pope during his Wednesday audiences.

Before arriving in Rome, King toured Messi's hometown, Bergamo. During the visit to the northern Italian city, King began a fundraising campaign to restore the city's church of St. Mary Major, which includes frescoed paintings on the walls of a pre-existing church buried underneath.

3 comments:

Kerry Hancock Jr said...

I found this posting quite suprising. Who would ever think Don King would be sitting front row of the Pope? The fact is that Jesus Christ came to this earth for all. Thanks for sharing.

Glory to God,

Kerry Dale Hancock Jr
messenger in Christ
www.messengerinchrist.com

Anonymous said...

When shove comes to push Don King has a lot in common with Pope Benedict XVI. Both men are front-seat flyers, both are flamboyant, both are promoters, both have the same barber, both wear the same green-and-gold boxing belt, both weep for the sick, the lame and the aged, both like to win with a knock out, or , failing that, an old Opus Dei kick in the ribs , and both men pray to God in thaksgiving for all the wonderful handouts (ncluding dresses) he has given them over the years and years and years.

I think they make a great odd couple.

Seamus Breathnach
Dublin

www.irish-criminology.com

Annie Jeffries said...

Loved your response to this, Seamus. God loves laughter and humor. Annie