During World War II a Protestant chaplain with the American troops in Italy became a friend of a local Roman Catholic priest. In time, the chaplain moved on with his unit and was killed in combat. The priest heard of his death, and knowing that the chaplain had no close family back in the States, he asked the military authorities if the chaplain could be buried in the cemetery behind his church. Permission was granted.

But the priest ran into a problem with his own church authorities. They were sympathetic, but they said they could not approve the burial of a non-Catholic in a Catholic cemetery. So, the priest buried his friend just outside the cemetery fence.

Years later, an Army veteran and friend of that chaplain returned to Italy and visited the old priest. He asked to see the chapla…