Memorandum by Joseph P. Walshe
(Secret)

The Taoiseach visited Monsignori Montini and Tardini on Sunday 15th January 1950.

In the course of the conversation with Mgr. Tardini the latter referred to the mixed marriage situation in Ireland without defining the precise points of law or procedure to which the Holy See objected.

Mgr. Montini spoke very strongly about the pivotal position of Irish Catholicism in the English speaking world and expressed regret that we were not doing more to provide that world with its Catholic literature (in the widest sense).

The Taoiseach explained to both Monsignori that Ireland was in a period of transition between a régime dominated by English Law and Custom, and a national régime in which our own needs and aspirations would be the determining factor.

The Taoiseach thanked Monsignor Montini for having helped to obtain the permission of the Holy Father for the construction of a Chapel to St. Columbanus in the Crypt of St. Peter's.