Letter from Joseph P. Walshe to Patrick McGilligan (Dublin)
(Copy)

Dear Minister,

1. Your instructions to me on leaving for Rome were (1) that I should do everything possible to better the then existing situation with regard to the Papal Representative in Dublin, i.e. to secure that the Chargé d'Affaires should be replaced by a Nuncio, and in general to secure that the Papal Representation should be definitely determined in the most satisfactory manner at the earliest possible moment; and (2) that I should help Mr. Bewley out of his early difficulties with my acquired knowledge of the situation here.

2. The first intimation of a set-back came from a despatch from Chilton communicated to me by the Foreign and Dominion Offices in which Chilton declared that the Cardinal Secretary of State had affirmed to him on Thursday, 6th June, that he had no idea whom he was going to send to Dublin. I have since heard from Randall, the Secretary of the British Legation, that the Cardinal asked Chilton for a suggestion as to the person to be sent. Chilton did not make a suggestion and from the completely passive attitude adopted by the Legation since our arrival here, I have to conclude that Chilton's particular passivity on that occasion was a definite encouragement to the Cardinal in the attitude which he subsequently adopted towards me. Chilton was, of course, quite correct in not making a suggestion, but he could very well have emphasised the need of adhering to what he knew to be a formal promise in our regard.

3. Mr. Bewley and I arrived in Rome on the evening of the 9th June. It was considered best that Mr. Bewley should remain incognito until the formal agrément was received. I asked Randall to come with me to the Vatican. He had been present on several occasions when M. Borgongini Duca had promised the Chargé d'Affaires for the end of the Emancipation celebrations and I thought it better to have him present in case of difficulty on that point - and I also wanted to discover from his attitude how the British Legation had co-operated with us during my absence from Rome. During the morning hours, M. Pizzardo, the new principal Assistant Secretary of State was at a meeting of the Holy Office and I had to wait until the late afternoon before seeing him. He received me with his usual affability and kindness and he listened most attentively while I set out quite frankly all the difficulties which would arise if the very definite promise to send a diplomatic Envoy immediately at the end of the Celebrations were not kept. He made it clear very soon that the Cardinal was not completely in touch with the situation and had spoken without his papers. He then proceeded to make a completely acceptable suggestion, namely, that the Nuncio from Belgium, Hungary or Czechoslovakia should be granted leave of absence from his post and accredited for a period of two or three months to the Irish Government as a complete Nuncio until the final occupant of the post should be appointed - of course also as a full Nuncio. This suggestion was made, I believe, in all sincerity and it showed that M. Pizzardo (as well as M. Borgongini Duca) had an entirely different appreciation of the Irish situation from that of the Secretary of State and the Holy Father. M. Pizzardo said he would do his best to have his proposal confirmed by the Holy Father and the Cardinal before Wednesday morning (12th June) when I was to return for an answer. In the course of my long statement I had pleaded very strongly for the sending of a full Nuncio immediately as the only adequate manner of meeting the requirements of the post. I feel quite sure that M. Pizzardo is convinced of the importance of the Dublin post and when he asked me to write him a personal note repeating the gist of my statement to him for the purpose of conveying it to the Holy Father, I believe he intended to give the fullest information to the Pope and that he actually did so. M. Pizzardo is a patently holy man who always takes the spiritual point of view and I therefore felt no hesitation in appealing strongly to his religious side. It was absolutely essential to put on record that we felt let down by the Vatican, and if my letters appeared to be over fulsome you must consider that the few home truths it contains required a great deal of padding, though I do not for a moment wish to say that the padding does not represent your own fundamental feelings (as well as those of the other Ministers), however disinclined you might be to give expression to them. M. Pizzardo was very much impressed by the offer of the house and by your statement in the Dáil, which I repeated to him. (As the Cardinal has since said nothing about the house it might be just as well to abstain from repeating the offer until we are informed of the precise date of the arrival of the representative. It may be possible to use it for securing a change from inter-Nuncio to Nuncio). I took the letter to M. Pizzardo on Tuesday, having had no time for a serious revision of its contents.

4. On Wednesday morning I went back to M. Pizzardo again accompanied by Randall.

M. Pizzardo came into the room looking very distressed. He told me that he had first been with the Holy Father and the Cardinal and that they had decided to send a Bishop or Archbishop to be present at the Celebrations bearing a letter to the Government. I was dumbfounded at the complete change of front and it took me fully two minutes to realize the full meaning of the decision. When I did realize the hopeless mess into which they were getting themselves and us, I had to say that while the members of the Government as individual Catholics could only rejoice at seeing a representative of the Holy Father in Ireland in whatsoever capacity, they could take no official cognisance of the presence of any Envoy except a Diplomatic Envoy. The Government were not in charge of the celebrations - they had no right to invite the Holy See to send a Legato a latere etc., that was purely a matter for the Bishops and the organising Committee. (Information about the Bishops' attitude would have been invaluable at this moment). The sudden change, which was not agreeable to Pizzardo, who definitely said so, was no doubt caused by external pressure on the Holy Father and the Cardinal, who now wished to make soundings in Ireland before sending a diplomatic envoy and at the same time to satisfy the Government by sending a letter, or, as the Cardinal later said, by making an announcement in public. M. Pizzardo begged me to go down at once to the Cardinal as he had no longer any power in the matter. I asked him to come with me and to urge the Cardinal again to take his point of view. M. Pizzardo went into the Cardinal before me and instead of reappearing by the same door and accompanying me into the Cardinal he disappeared through another passage from the latter's room and the Cardinal himself called me in.

To be faithful to the truth I must say that he was very difficult to deal with and his manners presented a very sharp contrast with those of his two subordinates. He repeated rather emphatically the decision taken. I asked him to be good enough to give the matter further consideration and he did not seem to appreciate the definite manner in which the promise had been given by Mgr. Borgongini Duca on his behalf, nor the additional fact that my Minister had formally announced in the Chamber what he believed to be the Holy Father's intention. He took no trouble to get out of the promise. Instead he declared that when my Government had a little more experience they would find no difficulty in recalling their statements. It was an everyday affair in the life of Governments well-established. I again emphasised that a legato a latere could not possibly fill the functions of messenger to the Government or bearer of a public statement on a Government matter without causing the utmost confusion. As he held out obstinately on the question of the many-sided Envoy, I had to retreat definitely to the line provided in your telegram of the 10th¹, namely, that no Envoy at all should be sent until His Holiness could find a suitable person to send in a definite diplomatic character provided that could be done within two months. He told me then to return on the following day, Thursday, 13th, for final proposals. The situation obviously required that I should see Borgongini Duca before the next interview with the Cardinal. As you are aware, Borgongini Duca has been appointed Nuncio to the Italian Government and he was exceedingly busy finishing up matters of State before going on his retreat (preparatory to Consecration) next Sunday.

5. On arriving back at the Hotel, I wrote a very brief Pro-Memoria (enclosed)² for the Cardinal and went on Thursday morning to see Pizzardo and through him Borgongini Duca. Borgongini Duca was good enough to see me for half an hour. I told him the position and gave him the Pro Memoria for the Cardinal. I emphasised the danger of the Bishops thinking that the Government had interfered in their sphere if the negotiations conducted by the Government resulted even indirectly in the sending of a legato a latere without a special invitation from the Bishops. As a last argument I urged - while adding that it was only as a Catholic I spoke - that anybody with less standing than a Cardinal would not be a proper person to send even for the purely ecclesiastical purposes of the celebrations. Mgr. Borgongini Duca asked me not to go to the Cardinal that day. He would take the responsibility of advising the Holy Father and the Cardinal against the Envoy going 9-10ths to the Bishops and 1-10th to the Government and if at all possible would persuade them to send a full Envoy on Mgr. Pizzardo's lines, at once.

6. Next morning, Friday, 15th, I saw Mgr. Ottaviani,³ the new second Assistant-Secretary of State. He also agreed with Pizzardo and Borgongini Duca but he was afraid that the Cardinal and the Holy Father had their minds made up. On the other hand, he thought that the position was somewhat better. He promised to secure that Mr. Bewley would be received well before the 23rd, the agrément being now definitely given. I saw the Cardinal immediately after and he began at once by saying that my Government need not worry: the Legate, an Archbishop (Pisani)⁴ would now be a simple bearer of a letter from the Pope to the Bishops of Ireland on the occasion of the celebrations and would take no prominent part. He would have nothing whatever to do with the State affairs. The Bishops had already been informed (I wondered whether that was really so). They would send a definite diplomatic Envoy 'dans un avenir prochain' which on being pressed he interpreted as meaning about September. I told him that the Government would not any longer be satisfied with a Chargé d'Affaires. That was an expedient invented to suit the occasion. He must, if possible, be a Nuncio. The Cardinal would not promise to send a Nuncio but he definitely stated that there would be no question of a Chargé d'Affaires. He went on to say that my Government should regard relations as definitely established once Mr. Bewley had presented his credentials, that there was no reason why he should not do so immediately, etc. My Government should not worry because the Vatican delayed a very short time in order to find a really suitable man. I told him finally that my Minister, having made public the promise about the Chargé d'Affaires, would now have to make a public statement explaining the change of plan. That statement would have to be made at once, especially in order to avoid the confusion which would arise when the approaching arrival of Pisani was announced. He agreed to an immediate statement from the Minister. That ended my interview with the Cardinal. I could not possibly request a promise in writing.

7. On my way in, I had met Archbishop Pisani, who is a very amiable old gentleman, very pro-Irish, speaks English not so badly. He did not mention his Mission. He is unlikely to be selected as the Nuncio to Dublin, which everybody here regards as a very difficult post. He is said to be on the shelf, having made some mistakes in the course of a Mission to India a few years ago. However, if I may so suggest, I think it would be wise to get hold of him for a few quiet meals in your home, while he is in Ireland. He is obviously being sent to get the Bishops' attitude towards the new departure, and it would seem to be a pity to let him back here without giving him a chance of talking to you or at least of saying that you have been kind to him.

In this general connection, the news that there will be no Chargé d'Affaires for the 24th has leaked out from the Vatican to the Irish religious houses here, but they take it as quite natural that the Vatican should take a longer time to select their man. I ardently trust that the reaction at home will be similar.