Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to Seán Nunan (Dublin)
(Personal. Most Secret)

For the ears of the Minister and yourself.

I heard from Bill MacAuley¹ who, as you probably know, is an old friend of the President (they exchange very frequent letters) that the P. intended to come to Rome for the Canonisation of Pius X. He told MacAuley so, quite definitely, in a letter of three days ago, but, T.G., he did at least imply that he hoped to ask the Minister for permission.

As I said to you, before, I owe my first entry into the Department to S.[eán] T., and since those far off days in Paris, we have been close friends. But I feel absolutely under an obligation of conscience to tell you, and the Minister, that such a visit would be a ‘botún’² of the worst degree. And it would still be a ‘botún’ even if he were told by the Nuncio and the Authorities here that he would be welcome, because it could be nothing more than insincere lip courtesy.

The P. wanted to come here for the Beatification in 1951 (3rd June), and, on putting the question to the Vatican, in April, in a purely hypothetical and confidential form, I got the answer that ‘it would not be in accord with custom’, and it was made clear beyond any manner of doubt that a second visit from the same Head of State in a shorter interval than, say, ten years, would constitute a very awkward precedent. I wrote a long letter to the President on the 20th April,³ giving him all the arguments against the visit. My first knowledge about his intention came from a paragraph in the ‘STANDARD’. And then came McD[unph]y’s telegram through the Department, received on the 4th April,⁴ giving me the whole programme, as an accomplished fact, as if the Vatican had no say in the matter, apparently because it was intended to make the visit ‘unofficial’. The Vatican, quite rightly, holds that no dignitary can make an unofficial visit on an official occasion. Indeed, the mere fact that the visit was to be a visit to the Vatican State, for any purpose whatsoever, made it official.

I need not tell you that the Officials of the Vatican, and the Pope Himself are very hard headed people in these matters, and the fact that S.T. headed a Corporation deputation to present an address to Pius X, in October 1908, would not have the slightest relevancy for them.⁵ They are quite capable of belittling us by insinuating that we are just parading the President for political motives, and looking for publicity, in the Spanish fashion. Our dignity has been wonderfully preserved so far. These people have no real charity in worldly affairs, and what they would not say themselves, they would get others to say.

I am sure the Minister and you agree that it is a moment to avoid all sentiment and to be starkly realistic, and it is better for us to have in mind another factor, which may be the strongest argument of all, but, of course, not for the President, who is probably still quite unconscious of its gravity.

You will remember that, on his way through Paris, after his Holy Year visit, the President gave an interview to the Press, in which he revealed that the Holy Father had expressed the opinion that Communism was on the decline.⁶ Within twelve hours I was sharply summoned to his office by Mgr. Tardini⁷ to receive a quiet but very humiliating talk about this departure from normal courtesy. Of course, I said there must be a mistake, either on the part of the journalist concerned, or in the transmission of the text to Rome. Two days later I was summoned again and given a Photostat copy of the statement signed by the President. Well, I was left without defences, and, I am afraid, I have to tell you that with that incident the President went out of favour so far as the Holy Father was concerned. He is completely and coldly intolerant of indiscretions regarding His personal talks with people of high position, and with His authoritarian character, He would make no allowances. This incident may be a partial explanation of certain other matters.

P.S. The P. also wanted to come at Easter 1949, and, of course, I had to show that that was impossible as he was going to come, in any case, at Easter 1950 for his Holy Year visit.

I am sure the P. would be very annoyed to have to read a third long epistle from me, persuading him not to come to Rome, and, in any case, I want to keep his friendship for the few more years we have to live.

He will surely talk about his project very soon to the Minister, who can easily dissuade him from carrying it out.