How Fruit Flan and a Future Pope Changed a Jesuit Dallas Teacher's Life

Hey, sometimes a dessert will change your life. Pope Benedict XVI is in Australia this week, mate. And among those who made the pilgrimage was Brother Patrick Hough, a social sciences teacher at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas -- who, from the looks of this photo, took a few...

By Robert Wilonsky

July 18, 2008

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Hey, sometimes a dessert will change your life.

Pope Benedict XVI is in Australia this week, mate. And among those who made the pilgrimage was Brother Patrick Hough, a social sciences teacher at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas -- who, from the looks of this photo, took a few of his students with him. Turns out, the 34-year-old Brother Patrick knows The Holy Man Formerly Known as Joseph Ratzinger pretty well, as he explained to a reporter from The Daily Telegraph while he waited his turn for the meet and greet at Admiralty House in Kirribilli yesterday: About seven years ago, he made meals for the former cardinal.

"I cooked him carrot soup which he loved, cauliflower cheese and veal schnitzel -- my grandmother's recipe," the Jesuit said. "He convinced me over the fruit flan we had for dessert why the Church needed young men -- and he had a soft spot for Jesuits."

On a related note, I once had matzo ball soup with a former mayor. --Robert Wilonsky

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