Evening star., 1943-08-01
Archbishop SpeI|man
Returning; Mission
Remains a Secret
~ the Associated Press

~ 'bo nsspSiasC0 F-E6Ss,
NEW YORK, July 31.-Archbishol
Francis j. Spellman is coming home
after a six-months tour that tool
him to Axis and Allied Nations, ane
to neutral capitals with the natur,
OF his mission. still on the secre
sic 81.
when he left the United State'
last February, the only explanation
was that he was on an ecclesiastical
mission. Political significance of tn,
trip, If any, was dislaimed in Wash.
ington Catholic circles. Yet. be-
cause Of his close personal friend
ship with Pope Plus XII and hi
knowledge of the Italian mind, from
long associations in Rome, his visit
particularly with the Pope, wa
coupled with peace rumors.
The Archbishop was a member O.
the Papal Secretariat OF State from
1925 to 1882 and 1t was reasoned ht
would be q logical representative o.
this country, at least in preliminary
conversations, If the Vatican became
the neutral state for peace negotia-
tSons.
President Declined Comment.
Shortly after his departure, Presi-
dent Roosevelt told press confer
ence the primary object of the Arch
bishops trip to Europe was to visit
military and naval units as vicar OF
the United States Army and Navy
The President declined to say
whether the high church officia
carried any message to the Vatican
but did disclose that he had seen the
Archbishop before departure.
While in Spain. The first stop or
his itinerary. Rome dispatch tc
the Swiss newspaper Basler Mach
richten said the archbishop's trip
had aroused wild rumors" but
that one of the most probable
explanations was that the United
States Government again feels the
need of a direct contact with Vati-
can circles"
Myron c. Taylor. President Roose-
velt's special envoy to the Vatican
had returned to the United States
last fall.
The archbishop arrived at the
Vatican on February 20. In three
days he had as many conferences
with Pope Plus. At that time the
Pope also received the secretaries
Of the Hungarian and Argentine Le-
cations in conversations which, since
the arrival Of Archbishop Spellman,
gave impetus to reports of sepa-
rate peace move by the smaller ma
tons of Europe. Argentina was
presumed to be one nation through
which negotiations could be carried
on.
Cited U. s. War Aims.
Later in Algiers, Archbishop
Spellman. in an address to American
forces in North Africa, said this
country's war aims and peace aims
were no secret.
retain our freedom, our own form
of government. our right to live, to
worship. to work, to assemble, to
trade, to express ourselves. to de
fend ourselves. to live at peace with
God and with our neighbors,' the
archbishop said
As military vicar of the armed
forces, he. told the soldiers and
sailors that the detectives of the
United Nations are "in accord with
the Christian life and the elocu-
tions of his holiness, Pope Plus XII" /"
The srchbisllops journeys took
him to Cairo. to Jerusalem, where
he observed Easter, and on to Istan-
bull In Turkey he explained that
his visit was of q private nature and
declined to answer questions sug-
gesting that his visit might have
political significance.
Leaves South Africa.
From Istanbul. Archbishop Spell
man went back to Egypt, thence to
Madagascar and South Africa. The
State Department in Washington
said this week that the archbishop
had left South Africa, en- route to
the United States.
Consecrated as a bishop in 1882
In st. Peters Cathedral in Rome by
the Pope, then Eugenio Cardinal
Pacelli, papal secretary of state.
Archbishop Spellman, also because
of his long service in the papal
secretariat. was as much at home
in the Eternal City as in this coun-
try. His confidential missions have
qualified him as an experienced
emissary, particularly where Italy
Is involved.
While in the Vatican secretariat.
he flgured In one of the most dra-
matte episodes in the reign of the
late Pope Plus XII. The Holy Father
had prepared an encyclical de-
nouncing the Fascist government of
Italy. as encroaching upon the cul-
tural domain Of the church
The Pope. fearing that the docu-
ment, IL released for publication in
Italy. might be suppressed or dis
torted by the Fascists, chose the
archbishop. then a monsignor. as
q papal agent and entrusted the
encyclicai to him.
Gave to the A. p.
Leaving Italy secretly, he went to
Paris. translating the document en-
route from Latin to English. Ar
irving in the French capital, he
turned 1t over to the Associated
Press bureau, where it was trans
mitted to all parts of the world.
Archbishop Spellman also trans
lated many addresses of the late
Pope Plus XI and reported them to
radio audiences in the United States
and Britain. He was announcer at
the Vatican radio station when ii
was established in 1881. He Was O
member of the papal mission to the
eucharistic congress in Dublin in
1882. In 1888 he made a 20,000-m mile
air tour of South America to study
church progress.
From a typical American boyhood
In New England town, Archbishop
Spellman, the son of a grocer. rose
TO head the wealthiest Catholic see
In the world. AS Archbishop of
New York he is leader of more than