Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)
(Personal)

My dear Fred,
I wish you hadn't to be at Paris at the present moment, though I full[y] realize how important your work is and how splendidly you are doing it. I feel so mortified that the Govt are doing absolutely nothing about the one supreme thing that matters at the present moment. Of course the H.S. should have issued an appeal to the Catholic world for funds and made a proper fight for it. After the T.s' broadcast speech, the passivity of our Govt seems beyond belief. What is needed is material help. That is why the Russians are winning out while we are talking. I wired Gedda's declaration (to the American Catholics) so that it might be shown to His Grace of Dublin and I hoped to the other Bishops. I also asked them to phone the message to London so that John might give it to the Cardinal. Has all that been done? Even at the last moment ... up to the last day of the elections any funds would be useful. Are we going to allow a false prudence to blind us to the realities of the world around us? Do all you possibly can to remedy the situation immediately. So the Catholic organisation (Gedda's Comitati Civici) ? the only anti-Communist organisation worthy of the name ... has worked miracles but the funds are no longer there and the Vatican coffers are almost empty. Imagine what it costs to send out hundreds of thousands of posters every day to the whole of Italy. The organizing power of Gedda may win - but he must have the means. Our A. Friends have given only a tiny sum to Gedda ? enough, as he told me, to make and distribute half a dozen posters. This was done at my instance, and as a performance I am thoroughly ashamed of it. But I am continuing to work, and I may be able to get some more money for them; we must always remember that the margin may be extremely small, and our contribution however small can be effective. I had Gedda and Caretto up to lunch yesterday and the whole group of 22 heads of sections are coming up tomorrow afternoon for a few hours of Ritiro. (I'll explain what this means when we meet). As I told you before our own Heads of Colleges are not very helpful. We badly need new blood amongst them for any kind of forward Irish movement in Rome.

I am confiding this letter to Dr. Leen, the Archbishop of Mauritius¹ - whose brother (RIP) was such a friend at the Mercier Society.² On leaving Paris the Minister was quite confident he could get some help.