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

Thanks for your secret and personal letter of the 22nd March.¹ It was a great relief. The event would have been a grave error, and I have only told part of the story. In fact, no such visit will become appropriate until the next Jubilee Year, if even then. The more independent we remain of the Holy See, except in the exclusively religious sphere, the better, and the less likely they are to interfere with us, or to give comfort to our enemies, as they did in the past.

I hope the Minister is selecting a new Ambassador who will maintain a healthy independence towards the institution, and will be ready to say the truth, and to remind them of past truths, when necessary.

Any form of ‘kow-towing’, or religiosity, or smug piety would be fatal to our interests.

Perhaps, you should know, as there has been no choice yet, that if you send a married man he should have children. Neither the Holy Father, nor the Monsignori, can ever quite understand the absence of children, least of all where Irish people are concerned, and the more you have the higher you are esteemed. You may take it as certain that this is a factor by no means to be neglected.