Letter from Seán MacBride to Joseph P. Walshe (Holy See)
(Confidential)

Dear Joe,
I asked Brendan Dillon, my Private Secretary, to write to you in connection with the meeting of the Council of Europe in Rome, which is due to be held towards the end of October. As I had to do a tour of meetings in the country, I did not have time to write to you myself and my instructions to Brendan were rather hurried.

The fact of the matter is that the decision to hold the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe in Rome was the result of a certain amount of plotting on the part of the Catholic Foreign Ministers. No advance notice was given of this proposal to our other colleagues, and the matter was raised at the end of the meeting. I was in the Chair and put it to a vote quickly. We obtained a majority in favour of holding the meeting in Rome. The voting, as far as I remember, was:-

The voting does not necessarily represent the religious viewpoint of the countries involved. I think that Turkey supported the Rome proposal for geographical reasons and that Iceland supported it because they are good friends of ours. Possibly the same consideration influenced Sweden.

In a way, I think that the decision is an important one psychologically and it would be well if you could impress this at the Holy See to ensure that the importance of this step is fully appreciated there. I think that the Holy See might consider the advisability of arranging for:-

• A special audience for all the Foreign Ministers with the Holy Father.
  And/or,
• A special Mass and ceremony for the Catholic Foreign Ministers attending the Conference.

The first suggestion may present some difficulties with the countries concerned and it will probably be necessary to take soundings well in advance to avoid any awkward situation. The second suggestion could be more easily implemented, but advance arrangements should be carefully made. Apart from Count Sforza, the Catholic Foreign Ministers attending the Conference will be:-

Schuman of France;

Van Zeeland of Belgium;

Bech of Luxemburg, and myself.

I am not quite certain what the relations are between the Holy See and Count Sforza. However, you will know this yourself.

Shortly before the Committee of Ministers meets in Rome, or simultaneously with its meetings, it is likely that the Joint Committee of the Assembly and of the Committee of Ministers will also meet in Rome. It is possible that some Catholics will attend this meeting on behalf of the Assembly.

As soon as more definite plans are made as to the exact date of the meeting, I will let you know my own plans. Denis Devlin has kindly asked me to stay with him and, inasmuch as this is more on the Quirinal side than the Holy See I will, subject to your views, go and stay with him.

We are in the throes of reorganisation here. Freddie is leaving us on Tuesday and is being replaced by Seán Nunan. I propose to make a number of consequential changes: Tim O'Driscoll, Deputy Secretary in charge of the Political, Information, Accounts and Establishment Divisions. Fay Assistant Secretary in charge of the ERP and Trade Divisions. Michael Rynne, Assistant Secretary in charge of Consular, Protocol and Cultural Divisions. I propose replacing Fay by Brian Gallagher in Stockholm. This, of course, is all for your own ear at the moment.