Evening star., 1940-01-20
Text of Pope's Letter
Pontiff Welcomes Appointment
Of Presidents Representative

/ w
Of Presidents Rel
FOLLOWING Is the tert OF the letter
received yesterday By President
Roosevelt from Pope Plus XII:
To His Excellency. Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, President of the United
States of America.-Pius PIP. XII.
Most Excellent Sir:-Health and
prosperity.
The memorable message that
Your Excellency was pleased to have
forwarded to us on the eve of the
holy feast of Christmas has bright
ened with ray Of consolation, Of
hope and confidence. the suffering,
the heart-rending fear and the Bit
terness of the peoples caught up in
the vortex of war. For this all
right-minded men have paid you
the spontaneous tribute of their sim
cere gratitude.
We have been deeply moved by
the noble thought contained in your
note, in which the spirit of Christ
mas and the desire to see 1t applied
to the great human problems have
found such eloquent expression; and
fully persuaded of its extraordinary
importance we lost no time In COM
municating it to the distinguished
gathering present that very morn
ing in the Consistorial Hall of this
Apostolic Vatican Palace, solemnly
expressing before the world, Cath
olic and nom Catholic alike, our
appreciation of this courageous doc
ument, inspired by a farseeing
craftsmanship and a profound hu-
man sympathy.
People Yearn for Peace.
We have been particularly i'm
pressed by one characteristic fea-
ture of Your Excellency's message:
the vital. spiritual contact with
the thoughts and feelings, the hopes
and the aspirations of the masses Of
the people, of those classes, namely,
on whom more than others, and
in a measure never felt before,
weighs the burden of sorrow and
sacrifice imposed by the present
restless and tempestuous hour. Also
for this reason. none perhaps better
than we can understand the mean
ing, the revealing power and the
warmth of feeling manifest in this
act of Your Excellency. In fact our
own daily experience tells us of
the deep-seated yearning for peace
that fills the hearts of the COM
mon people. In the measure that
the war with its direct and indirect
repercussions spreads; and the more
economic, social and family life is
forcibly wrenched from its normal
bases by the continuation of the
war, and is forced along the way
of sacrifice and every kind of priva-
ton, the bitter need of which is
not always plain to all; so much
the more intense is the longing for
peace that pervades the hearts of
men and their determination to find
and to apply the means that lead
to peace.
When that day dawns-and we
would like to hope that it is not
too far distant-on which the roar
of battle will lapse into silence and
there will arise the possibility of
establishing a true and sound peace
dictated by the principles of justice
and equity, only he will be able to
discern the path that should be
followed who unites with high po-
litical power clear understanding
of the voice of humanity along with
sincere reverence for the divine
precepts of life as found In the.
gosepl of Christ. Only men of
such moral stature will be able to
create the peace, that will COM
pensate for the incalculable sacri-
fees of this war and clear the way
for a comfy Of nations, fair to all,
efficacious and sustained by mutual
confidence.
Stubborn Obstacles in Way.
We are fully aware of how stub
born the obstacles are that stand
in the way of attaining this goal
and how they become daily more
difficult to surmount. And If the
friends of peace do not wish their
labors to be in vain, they should
visualize distinctly the seriousness
of these obstacles and the conse-
quently slight probability of imme-
diate success so long as the present
state of the opposing forces remains
essentially unchanged.
AS vicar on earth of the Prince
Of Peace, from the first days of our
pontif1cate we have dedicated our
efforts and our solicitude to the
purpose of maintaining peace and
afterwards of re-establishing It..
Needless of momentary lack of sue
cess and Of the difficulties involved,
we are continuing to follow along
the path marked out for us by our
apostolic mission. AS we walk this
path, often rough and thorny, the
echo which reaches us from count
less souls, both within and outside
the church, together with the con-
sciousness OF duty done, is for US
abundant and consoling reward.
And now that in this hour of
worldwide pain and misgiving the
Chief Magistrate of the great North
American Federation, under the
spell Of the holy night Of Christmas,
should have taken such prominent
place in the vanguard of those who
would promote peace and gener-
ously succor the victims of the war,
bespeaks providential help, which
we acknowledge with grateful Joy
and increased confidence. It Is an
exemplary act Of fraternAl and