There’s an effort to declare the Great Saint Bernard Pass (a 49-mile route in the Western Alps) a Unesco World Heritage Site that would gain recognition for the region’s history and culture.  While in Rome to liaise with Italian Unesco representatives last week, a delegation from the Barry Foundation met with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square following his weekly audience.  Among the dignitaries of the delegation was “Magnum,” a Saint Bernard whose legendary breed is one focus of its application (along with the male choir of the Great Saint Bernard hospice, and the alpine passes in the region).

The “Barry Foundation” was established in 2005 to take over the breeding of the famed Saint Bernard making it the oldest and most important Saint Bernard kennel in the world. “Magnum” is a descendant of “Barry,” one of the most famous St. Bernard rescue dogs known to history (“rescue” having been the dog’s job, not a description of his origins). Over a span of 200 years, about 2,000 people, from lost children to Napoleon’s soldiers, were rescued because of the heroic dogs’ uncanny sense of direction and resistance to cold.
Pope Francis spent time patting Magnum and chatting with his handlers. “The pope loved this gentle giant,” said Barry Foundation president, Claudio Rossetti, though he was a bit disappointed that Magnum wasn’t wearing a traditional barrel around his neck. “We explained that the dog was still too young to wear it,” said Rossetti (note: St Bernard dogs never wore small barrels of brandy and the myth is believed to have been started by artist, Edwin Landseer, whose painting, “Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveler,” included a St. Barnard wearing a barrel around its neck).  More on the visit with the Pope here.

Photo via Twitter/Catholic News Agency