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

My dear Secretary,

[matter omitted concerning official visits by Irish ministers and the President to the Holy See during the Holy Year of 1950]

The Vatican is conscious, in particular, the Holy Father is conscious, of the immense strength of Irish Catholicism as a factor in the fight against COMMUNISM. He is convinced that, in this supreme struggle, the moral factor is an infinitely more powerful weapon than the political and, from all I can learn, He has given to IRELAND a very important role to play in his plans. Mgr. FELICI told me that the H.F. had accepted the view that Ireland should be the intellectual and moral centre, from which should be distributed to the ENGLISH speaking world, a whole literature dealing with the doctrinal and moral aspects of most human activities. He wants to help us to assume this role and I feel certain that Mgr. Felici has received instructions to that end. You are aware that I have been preaching this thesis ever since I came here, in season and out of season. Politically, we are destined to diminish as the descendants of our emigrants, in the normal course, lose their Irish enthusiasms, but, as an instrument for the diffusion of the Christian Faith and for the universal acceptance of Christian principles, our power is only beginning. I should not be surprised if the H.F. while considering our points about the difficulty which would arise, in relation to protestantism in Ireland, from the appointment of an Italian to the DUBLIN Nunciature, overruled us, partly because He wants unity of control and training, but, also, because He believed that Irish Protestants, in the long run, are more likely to be influenced, favourably, by an increase in Ireland's moral prestige in the world, than by the appointment of an Irishman to DUBLIN. He is receiving Protestants everyday, and they are even more expansive than the Catholics in their expressions of gratitude for the great work He is doing to save the world from Communism. He is also very appreciative of the attitude of the Irish Government, which has so clearly realized that the Liberalism of the old school is a dead thing, and that it is the interest of all Irish Christians that the Government should proclaim its positive adhesion to the principles and doctrine of the Religion to which its members belong. I feel certain that He has heard strong approval of the Government's stand from some IRISH and Anglo-Irish Protestants. I am amazed at the unanimity with which these people express their admiration for the Holy Father, in relation to His fight for Christianity.

[matter omitted]

An early decision is desirable¹ also because of the necessity of securing accommodation of the appropriate kind. The Embassy has only 4 bedrooms altogether, and I could not suggest that more than the President and his wife and the Taoiseach and his wife could be comfortably housed here. I am quite sure that they will understand that a house run on bachelor lines cannot have the comforts nor the type of staff adequate to make the ladies completely satisfied. But, naturally, they will be most wholeheartedly welcomed by me and it will be a great honour and a great privilege to have them.

Of course, I am assuming that our own Minister and his wife will also stay. Since the Embassy is casa sua, he and his wife will naturally be the host and hostess during the visit, and I am relying on the Minister's special knowledge of our difficulties abroad to excuse the shortcomings he will experience.

I wonder would it be possible to induce some of the Bishops to come at the same time. It would be a great opportunity of showing to the Holy See that complete unity of purpose which exists between the Church and State in Ireland.

[matter omitted]