c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Ever wondered what a pope smelled like 150 years ago?

Dr. Fred Hass has, and now makes The Pope’s Cologne, a fragrance believed to have been worn by Pope Pius IX, who reigned for more than 30 years during the 19th century.

Hass, a general practitioner from San Rafael, Calif., got the recipe, thought to have been distributed among the family of a member of the pope’s papal guard, from a 1960s limited edition cookbook. Now, predominately Catholic buyers from across the United States to England are embracing the fragrance.

Recently, Hass, 69, spoke about making the first batch of the cologne, Pope Pius IX and what Catholicism means to him. Here are excerpts:

Q: Why do you produce and distribute The Pope’s Cologne?

A: For fun and profit.

Q: Is there more to your reasoning for making the cologne?

A: Well, I think its kind of (an) interesting product. It’s curious, when I first discovered the formula for The Pope’s Cologne, I thought to myself, “Wow, popes wearing cologne!” The concept of a pope wearing cologne seemed to me like a very strange thing. So, I wanted to see what that smells like. A friend of mine and I decided we’d make some just for the heck of it. We made some, it smelled really good (and) I said, “Gee, that’s interesting.”

From a historic and religious perspective, people would like to know what Pope Pius IX was wearing as a cologne 150 years ago and what it smelled like.

Q: How many bottles have you sold, and how would you define your buyer?

A: I can’t do that yet. I’ve only sold about 1,000 bottles so far, and orders are coming in from all over the country. … I’ve had a lot of the orders (that) have been from individuals that are curious and want to give them as gifts. A good number of orders (are) from priests and from parishes (and), of course, many from Catholic gift stores. Catholic gift stores seem to the primary people interested. I’ve also gotten a couple orders from England.

Q: How would you describe your experience making the first batch of The Pope’s Cologne?

A: Oh, it was exciting. It was fun; it was really fun.

First of all, to find the ingredients was kind of a search because I didn’t know where to get them. We were able to find the ingredients. Then there was this kind of excitement, almost schoolboy-like excitement, about putting these things together and seeing how they are going to smell. Then when you get the end product we looked at each other and said, “Wow, this is good!”

Q: Your first batch was made about 10 years ago; what made you want to start selling it now?

A: I don’t know. Maybe it was Pope John (Paul II) dying and getting a new pope.

Q: How would you describe the smell of The Pope’s Cologne?

A: It’s very fresh and clean and with a note of citrus and violet.

Q: Do you know why Pope Pius IX used the cologne?

A: No, I don’t. Why do people use cologne today? Perfumes have been used since 3000 BC. I don’t know what the (hygiene) habits were of the Europeans in 1850s. Just a lot of people, (affluent) people, were using perfumes in the 19th century.

Q: What should people know about Pope Pius IX?

A: He was an interesting pope in that he was second-longest reigning pope in the history of the Catholic Church. … When he became pope in 1846, he was the king of the Holy Roman Empire. The whole thing dissolved under his papacy. He ended up being chased out of Rome and had to go flee with an army to protect him. But he was still able to maintain power and control of the church and ended up cutting a deal, which ended up with him having created the Vatican state.

From a religious standpoint, he called the First Vatican Council in 1869, which declared the dogma of papal infallibility. He also declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary in 1854.

Q: You have a general practice, as well as this business. How would you describe a typical day for you?

A: Get up and make hospital rounds, and go to the office and work all day at the office.

Q: When do you have time to make the cologne?

A: On the evenings and the weekends. Then I take Wednesday afternoon and Friday afternoons off now. I used to just kill myself working, but I’ve cut way back because I don’t really have to work anymore.

Q: Why did you choose to incorporate the word “Excelsis” into the name of your company, Excelsis Fine Fragrances?

A: Excelsis means “in the highest.” In Latin it’s “Gloria In Excelsis Deo.” And when I first mixed this stuff together, I was astonished and kinda said to myself, “O, Gloria In Excelsis Deo. That’s it, that’d be a good name, Excelsis.”

Q: What role does Catholicism play in your life?

A: The Catholic faith is the anchor of my life. I’m not a highly religious person but I don’t think that anyone could be happy without having some kind of a spiritual life. You don’t have to be Catholic, anything, any religion. But I think you have to have spirituality in your life to be happy and content.

Q: Does making the cologne help you spiritually?

A: No, I don’t find that (there is a) religious calling to make it. This is a commercial venture that happens to be religious and is a lot of fun.

KRE/LF END BAKHSHIAN

Editors: To obtain photos of Pope Pius IX and Hass with his cologne, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.