Evening star., 1944-03-13
Text of Pope's Appeal to War Leaders
By the Associated Press.

by the ASSOCIATED Press.
LONDON, Mar. I3.-The tert
OF Pope Plus XIFs speech yes
terday on the fifth anniversary
OF his coronation, as broadcast
by Rome radio and recorded By
the Ministry of Information:
The tribulations which have
visited you in your domestic hap
piness, beloved sons end daughters
whom present calamities have COM
PEELED to go scattered, denuded,
homeless, separated perhaps from
the members of your own families,
wandering without news of those to
whom you are tied by ties of blood
and affection, as anxious about
their fate as they are about yours;
you in whom faith nevertheless
points to our Heavenly Father who
is near to those who love Him; you
who turn to good account even
the gravest and most bitter mat
tiers: You have come today drawn
by filial impulse to ask the Vicar
of Christ for word of blessing and
comfort.
We share your suffering. You
have gathered round us not to learn
Of the anguish of our fatl1erly love
which makes us one with you in
suffering, for this you already know,
but to hear from our own lips and
to read In our countenance that the
whole of your sorrows is our own
and that their bitterness is in the
depth of our hearts. Yes, beloved
sons and daughters, the sorrow that
links us with you makes you doubly
dearer to us. The more so the more
you are afflicted. Rest assured that
there is not single one of your
sorrows, anxieties or physical and
spiritual sufferings that does not
pierce our soul more deeply and
more painfully than any personal
suf1erings of our own.
Foresaw Consequences.
From the day when our endeavors
to avoid the scourge of war-the
disastrous and fearsome conse-
quences of which we foresaw-went
unheard, our spiritual fatherhood,
which already in anxious solicitude
beheld you in innumerable multi
tudes, was wholly bent toward al
leviating your needs and your suf-
ferings and to give the help of our
unfortunately limited material re-
sources, bread and clothing to those
who had nothing left and needed
everything, and to gather together
those separated by the fighting and
invasions.
We spared no effort, we neglected
nothing to prevent the sick and the
people from experiencing the hor-
rors of deportation and exile. When
harsh reality came to disillusion our
most legitimate beliefs, we did all in
our power to alleviate suffering, but
conscious that all that was in our
power to do was insufficient.
We cried out for help as would the
Father in his sorrow for his unfor-
tunate sons, hoping to be heard by
those far and near in whose bosom
beats a generous heart, and they have
answered our appeal. Our deep
gratitude remembers their names
and offers them to God that He may
enter them in the Book of Eternal
Rewards.
But in this especially grave hour
for the so-much-martyred city oil
Rome, torn in her living flesh, her
inhabitants slain, mutilated and
wounded in horrible fashion. where
the sufferings have been sharpestI
and daily needs most pressing. we
pray anew, we beg, we inlplore ALL
those who have means to help.
eitheS with material contributions.
or with the help of active work, not
eoadeny their efncaciousssuppcrt and
assistance. I
No Law or Restraint.
Thus, with the towns stricken inl
nearly every continent by an aerial
war which does not recognize any
aw or restraint, already a terrible |
Indictment against the cruelty Of
such methods, how could we believe
That any one might dare to turn
Rome, this almighty city which
belongs to all fronts and to all places
ana to which the Christian and
civilized world is looking for light,
into a theater of war, thus perpe-