Evening star., 1940-01-21
pope Halls Roosevelt
Peace Note, but Sees
Little Hope at Present
Says He Would Find
'SpecioI Satisfaction
In Receiving ToyIor
n the Associated Press.

~ tuS AbBOCl1teo 1SCoos
Hailing with grateful Joy" Presi-
dent Roosevelt's efforts to promote
peace, Pope Plus XII wrote him
yesterday that the friends Of peace
had little chance for success 80
long rs the present state Of oppos-
ing forces remains essentially un-
changed"
Replying to the Presidents Christ
mas message of December % sug-
gesting q personal representative"
be sent to the Vatican to assist "our
parallel endeavors for peace and the
alleviation Of suffering" the Pope
said he would find a special salts
faction" in receiving Myron G. Tay-
lor. the peace ambassador without
portfolio.
Mr.. Taylor, former chairman of
United States Steel and Interna-
ttonal Refugee Committee director,
Is expected to sail soon for his home
at Florence, Italy, where he will
make his headquarters. He Is now
In Florida recoving from q recent
illness.
Obstacles Grow Daily.
Apparently noting Mr.. Roosevelt's
statement that no spiritual or civil
leader could move forward at this
time ION specific plan" to termi-
nate existing wars, but the time for
that would surely come, his holiness
said:
I'VE are fully aware Of how stub
born the obstacles are that stand
in the way of attaining this (peace)
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 consequent slight probability OF
immediate success so long as the
present state of the opposing forces
remains essentially unchanged.
The Pope said he had been
"deeply moved" by the message
from the President. whom he called
at one point the "Chief Magistrate
Of the Great North American Fed
Grafton"
Appreciate Document.
He said he lost no time In COM
municating it that very morning"
to a distinguished gathering in the
"Consistorial Hall of this Apostolic
Vatican Palace, solemnly expressing
before the world, Catholic and non
Catholic alike, our appreciation OF
this courageous document, inspired
by far-seeing craftsmanship and a
profound human sympathy
The longer the war lasts and
forcibly wrenches from its normal
bases the economic, social and fam
ily life, his message said, 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"
He realized the "deep-seated
yearning for peace that fills the
hearts OF the common people, nc
said, adding that true and sound
peace" would come only'if it united
with thigh political power a clear
understanding Of the voice OF hui
manity along with sincere rever-
ence for the divine precepts of life
as found in the gospel OF Christ"
When the President wrote his
holiness, he also addressed letters
in a similar vein to DR.. George A.
Buttrick, president of the Federal
Council of Churches of Christ in
America, as a Protestant leader,
and to DR.. Cyrus Adler, president OF
the Jewish Theological Seminary OF
America, as Jewish leader. His
purpose, he made clear, was to
promote coordination of the peace
efforts of governments and reli-
gious groups.