Personal code telegram from Thomas J. Kiernan to Joseph P. Walshe (Dublin)
(No. 55)

My telegram 53.¹ Cardinal asks me to mention that officially he cannot put forward suggestions, Vatican position being extremely delicate. Following are his personal views. It would be impossible for Germans to consent to Allied German Commission as suggested by American senators; it is possible that despite difficulties they would permit neutral commission but he fears possibility of American consent and German refusal leading to position worse than before. Obviously Allies are misinformed as to military situation in Rome as at Cassino and a German refusal of neutral commission would confirm Allied suspicions making matters worse. He counselled caution against this possibility hoping Taoiseach will continue negotiations with both sides. If ideal of Rome as an open city fails realization he hopes that Taoiseach will continue to press Allies to save Rome which they can take without attack since Germans are all the time fully prepared to move to the North quickly if endangered by encirclement. In addition to religious and artistic arguments he stresses futility from military point of view and gave me these words 'Rome, lying in a plain, a very wide and spacious city, rich in incomparable monuments, inhabited now by a population of about 2,000,000 souls – whose feeding problem has become an exceedingly difficult one – is not a strategic centre which should be militarily attacked or defended.'