Evening star., 1944-06-05
ID. T.. Church Leaders
Relieved That Rome
Is In Allied Hands

Ills In Allied Hands
Church leaders here expressed
pleasure today over the capture of
Rome by the Allies and relief that
the Holy City was almost intact
when the victorious armies took
over.
Archbishop Michael j. Curley of
the Baltimore and Washington Dio-
cese said:
IF the Germans have gone out
of Rome and If the Allies have taken
it, the world can very well say on it's
knees, Thank God"
"All of us should be grateful that
the circumstances of the fighting
indicate the city was taken over
without the destruction of religious
and historical centers which full
scale siege would have entailed,"
said Msgr. Michael J. Ready, general
secretary of the National Catholic
Welfare Conference.
Cablegram Sent to Pope.
A cablegram was sent to Pope
Plus XII last Tuesday from the
whole American episcopacy, through
Msgr. Ready's organization, express
ing the hope that the Allied COM
manders would find a way to VIC
tory" without destruction of the city.
Rabbi Henry Segal, Bnai Israel
Congregation, Fourteenth and EN-
erson streets NV, said: Il would
say that the fall of Rome should
be to all liberty-loving people SYM
bolic of the ultimate victory of
those who believe in God, against
those who have wanted to supplant
Him with a belief in their own
might. 1t is gratifying to know that
now the ancient relics of a great
faith are in the hands of those who
respect and cherish them"
Reissig Is Pleased.
The Rev. Frederick E. Reissig,
executive secretary of the Wash
ington Federation of Churches, said:
1T is a matter of great satisfac-
A.! ton that the city of Rome is being
liberated and will escape destruc-
ton by bombing. No matter what
| our religious affiliation may be, we
deplore the destruction of any place
or institution which is sacred to
others. We only wish that the $4,000
churches and religious centers of
England totally or partially de-
stroyed might have been spared and
that we could somehow avoid bomb
ings of religious centers in enemy
countries"
Msgr. Francesca Lardone, director
of ecclesiastical studies at Catholic
University, who was foreign editor
of Osservatore Ramano official daily
newspaper of the Vatican from 1921
to 1923, said:
"As director of studies of the
ecclesiastical schools of the Catholic
University of America, I greatly re-
joice in the liberation of Rome be-
cause this event will return to nor
malcy the contacts of the Catholic
universities of the world with the
Holy See"
Msgr Lardone served on the Vati-
can newspaper for one year before
Mussolini's march on Rome and for
nearly two years after that event.
In 1923 he went to oxford Univer-
sity in England for years study
and then came to Washington and
Joined the university staff. He has
been an American citizen since 1887.
The Most Rev. John NJ Nc
Namara, Auxiliary Bishop of the
Baltimore and Washington Diocese,
said
"The news that Rome has been
spared will bring joy to ali who
realize that its destruction would
have been tragedy, not only for
Italy, but for America and the
world"
Tribute to Allies Restraint.
The Rev. Edmund A. Walsh S. j.,
vice president of Georgetown Uni
versity who lived in Rome for some
time and who was the representative
of the Vatican in Russia for relief
purposes during the great famine
from 1922 to 1924, said:
The liberation of Rome with so
little material damage is a fine
tribute to the restraint of the Allied
high command and raises at least
some measure of hope that there
remains basic and realistic in
Itelligence somewhere in Germany.
What We hope and pray for is
that Florence, the next great art
and cultural center of Italy, also
will be spared. The world right
fully rejoices at the comparative
integrity of a spot which is not
only the central shrine of Chris
tianity, but vast repository of
historical and artistic treasures
which are the common heritage of
all western civilization
What now remains is the swift
and generous rescue of a starving
and exhausted population which was
cruelty victimized by two totalitarian
regimes, one domestic and the other