Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Catholic Church be my duty to convince the world of this miracle, it is so now, when people are ridiculing whatever is called a miracle and denying all miracles ... But because this miracle is too evident and consequently not to be denied, they want to suppress it. They refuse to let God have the honor. As a teenager, Mozart went on tours of Italy, accompanied by his father. During the first of these, Leopold and Wolfgang visited Rome (1770), where Wolfgang was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur, a form of honorary knighthood, by Pope Clement XIV. The papal patent
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of "Ascanio in Alba" (1771) and "Lucio Silla" (1772). Leopold hoped that these visits would result in a professional appointment for his son, and indeed ruling Archduke Ferdinand contemplated hiring Mozart but owing to his mother Empress Maria Theresa's reluctance to employ "useless people", the matter was dropped and Leopold's hopes were never realized. Toward the end of the journey, Mozart wrote the solo motet "Exsultate, jubilate", K. 165. After finally returning with his father from Italy on 13 March 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. The composer had a