Memorandum by Joseph P. Walshe
'An outline of the Duties of the Irish Minister to the Vatican'

More than in any other post abroad, these call for the very highest degree of care and self-sacrifice in the Representative. His very routine of life must be adapted in no small degree to that of his Vatican environment. Unless he sets out of deliberate purpose to become an observant Churchman in detail, he is courting failure. He must acquire, not only a serious knowledge of the history of the Church, but also an intimate acquaintance with the day to day work of governing the Universal Church from its centre. His purpose must always be to establish such close relationships with Vatican officials that there will always be a receptive atmosphere for his requests and advice in relation to Ireland. Hence also it would be waste of his country's time for the Irish Minister to the Vatican to spend more than the absolute minimum of time at social functions which have not some relation to representation at the Holy See. It sometimes happens that Representatives to the Vatican establish social contacts and friendships either in the Quirinal diplomatic corps or in Roman society. In this way, they come to regard their one and all-important function as something accidental to their general social existence. The Vatican diplomatic corps and the social environment of the Vatican, including, of course, the Irish clergy, provide more than sufficient opportunity for friendships and social life. The Irish Minister is successful in proportion as he makes friendships within the Vatican circle.

His emoluments are sufficient, but only sufficient, to maintain through his own household a modicum of entertainment suited to the modest dignity which should characterise Irish representation abroad.

The Irish Representative must always be ready to listen to the difficulties of even the humblest Irish ecclesiastic in Rome, and it is particularly advisable that he should make no distinction between priests and brothers. He will have to make a careful study of the composition of all the Papal Offices and Congregations, and to discover in what way Ireland's representation could be secured and strengthened. At the present time, Ireland's influence at the Vatican is exceedingly small compared with the immense power of Irish Catholicism in the world as a whole. It will be for the Representative to strive wholeheartedly to secure for Ireland a proper place in the Central Councils of the Church. No doubt, such a task demands the greatest possible discretion and the closest examination at every step, but the Representative will have to beware of the temptation of thinking that slow movement or inaction can achieve anything. In the Vatican it is especially true that only constant pressure brings success.

The Representative should keep the appropriate officials in the Vatican in touch with events in Ireland, and should convince them of the righteousness of Ireland's national aims and of her attitude towards international affairs. He should encourage these officials to give him as frequently as possible their reactions to Irish and world events and should report home accordingly.

He must always remember that his influence at the Vatican can be a large factor in the attitude towards Ireland of the Catholic Church in America and in the Dominions.