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Wen 丨 Robinson's diary
Edit 丨Robinson's diary
Although the "Taylor Mission" sparked fierce protests from Protestants in the United States, Taylor finally began his journey to Rome in the early 1940s. During World War II, direct communication channels between the President of the United States and the Pope were formally established.
At the beginning of World War II, the United States and Vatican relations were relatively friendly, and through Taylor's visit, the United States and the Vatican began a series of cooperation, including jointly preventing Italy from entering the war, and the Vatican acquiescing to the new interpretation of the Holy Savior's encyclical by the American bishop, and the United States helping the Vatican to aid Poland.
Taylor's first visit to Rome was an attempt to help the United States and the United States
On February 16, 1940, amid the opposition of Protestants in the country, Taylor and his wife left for Rome. At the end of February, the Taylors arrived in Naples. They were joined by Wells, the deputy secretary of state on a mission to search Europe.
Roosevelt said Wells' trip was to understand the current situation in Europe, in fact to investigate the possibility of achieving peace. The Italian government prepared an official welcome ceremony for Wells, which Taylor did not attend.
He arrived in Rome in a car with Hurley, the State Council Commissioner of the Holy See sent by the Pope to pick him up.
This began Taylor's many visits to Rome during World War II, and began many exchanges between the personal representatives of the President of the United States and Pope Pius XII.
When Taylor set off, the Vatican was also actively preparing to welcome his arrival. On the same day that Taylor left for Rome, the Vatican asked Phillips, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, to send a letter to the State Department asking whether Taylor's letter of appointment was a personal letter from the president or a formal letter of appointment.
Because in the case of a formal appointment letter, the two sides usually exchange speeches, and the pope wants more time to prepare.
At 6 p.m. that day, the State Department replied that Taylor's letter of appointment was a personal letter from the president and would not give a formal speech.
On the other hand, the United States is also preparing for Taylor's visit to Rome. At Roosevelt's request, the State Department sent Tittmann, secretary of the U.S. Consulate in Geneva, as Taylor's assistant because he was familiar with the situation in Italy, with the title of "Assistant to the Personal Representative of the President of the United States to Pope Pius XII."
But Titman doesn't expect much from his new job.
He once wrote to his mother, "I was assigned to be Taylor's assistant, but I didn't know what to do."
As a result, this job, which originally made him have no expectations, became a career that he would later say made him extremely proud.
On February 20, Titmann departed Geneva and arrived in Rome earlier than Taylor. Over the next six weeks, Titmann accompanied Taylor on visits to Vatican officials and diplomats assigned to the Holy See.
However, Titman did not participate much in Taylor's dealings with the Pope, nor did he participate in Taylor's numerous meetings with the Pope. Because Taylor has a personal secretary, he can prepare relevant reports.
On February 27, the ceremony to receive Taylor was held in solemnity. Although Taylor was only President Roosevelt's personal representative, the Vatican still received him according to the specifications of the ambassador.
A slight difference is that the ceremony to receive Taylor takes place in the Little Throne Hall, while the general reception of the ambassador is in the Throne Hall. According to Thomas Morgan, on that day, according to the complicated etiquette, Ambassador Taylor was dressed very neatly, and his wife wore a black high neck and long sleeves specially designed for the audience with the Pope, and a black veil that fell to the shoulders.
Mr. and Mrs. Titmann also followed suit, neatly dressed in accordance with the strict etiquette of the Holy See. In front of the Papal Palace, they were warmly welcomed by the Purple Bishops, Swiss Guards, court ministers and receptionists. Then Taylor was ushered into the Hall of Clementine.
Then, everyone went to the Little Throne Hall together. During this time, Taylor and his party were welcomed by more officials, priests and soldiers. The Pope was very pleased to receive Taylor and the others in the Little Throne Hall, extended his hand to welcome them, and invited them to take their seats.
Taylor traced fond memories of Hyde Park in 1936 and said his mission was to fulfill President Roosevelt's desire to promote peace and human welfare.
Taylor then handed the Pope a handwritten letter of appointment from the president. The letter stated, "In my letter to you dated 23 December 1939, I proposed that a personal representative be sent to assist us in our common endeavours for peace and the relief of suffering.
You have indicated that you will accept and receive my personal representative, Myron Taylor. Taylor is an old friend I trust very much, and I entrust him with this special mission... Hopefully, he will be a channel of communication between us for us to exchange opinions.
I ask Taylor to extend my cordial greetings to you one by one my old friends. I sincerely hope that religious ideals and humanity itself will unite to re-establish a more permanent peace on the basis of freedom and under God's protection, and to ensure the safety of life and the integrity of all nations".
After receiving Taylor's letter of appointment, the Pope was very happy. He said that in these days of death and destruction, the re-establishment of world peace is an important contribution.
He also praised Taylor as the right person for this important trip. At the same time, to express his joy, he awarded Mrs. Taylor a large silver medal.
This was followed by a 45-minute private meeting between the Pope and Taylor. It is worth noting that before setting off, Roosevelt had instructed Taylor to consult with the Pope on the basis of the four points of peace.
The four foundations are: freedom of religion, freedom of dissemination of information and knowledge, disarmament and freedom of trade among peoples. The president also ordered Taylor to explore with the Pope the possibility of an early end to the war.
The Pope also put forward a "five-point peace program" on Christmas Eve 1939: guarantee the independence of all nationalities; genuine disarmament; reconstruction and creation of international institutions; Guarantee the rights of ethnic minorities; Recognize the supremacy of sacred and unshakable divine law over all human laws and practices.
It can be seen that Roosevelt's four foundations of peace have something in common with the Pope's "five-point peace program", that is, they all talk about peace and the international situation.
Undoubtedly, this was also the subject of discussion between the Pope and Taylor in their first meeting. According to Taylor's recollection, he and the Pope talked about the following two things:
Analysis of the situation in Germany: first, under the existing German polity, the continuous security demanded by Britain and France is impossible, because they have no confidence in the German polity and refuse to compromise with it;
Second, the German people were dissatisfied with their regime, but it was controlled by the Gestapo and the SS.
Unarmed, disorganized and constantly monitored, political groups in the country are currently powerless; Again, German officers generally did not support the war, but were not ready to rebel against their political leaders.
If ordered to advance, they immediately obeye; Finally, Germany did not have enough resources for a long war, which could last a year or more if it was fought.
The question of Italy's entry into the war. The pope said he had no contact with Mussolini.
However, according to intelligence, Italian Foreign Minister Ziano and all the Italian people opposed the war, while Mussolini was still in the swing and did not make a final decision. Taylor believed that Mussolini was trying to obtain the best interests and concessions for his country.
It is said that the atmosphere of the private meeting between the Pope and Taylor was very warm. During this meeting, the Pope gave Taylor the great gift of allowing him to call at any time without an official appointment, so that their communication could take place when they were mutually convenient and the environment needed.
Taylor was also impressed by the papal diplomatic ingenuity and shrewd prudence. After the meeting, he happily reported to Roosevelt that through him, the Pope and the President could have close communication and cooperation day or night, at any time.
At this point, a direct channel of communication between President Roosevelt and Pope Pius XII was officially established.
It is worth noting that President Roosevelt's original design of the "Taylor Mission" was to serve as a direct channel of communication with the Pope, in order to fight for peace and rescue war refugees.
But in actual operation, the "Taylor Mission" has somehow exceeded the limitations of the original setting and played a richer and broader role. This is manifested above all in the change in Taylor's work order.
Although Taylor cooperated somewhat with the State Department of the Holy See on issues such as rescue, from the beginning, helping refugees occupied only a secondary role in Taylor's work, and his main work focused on the diplomatic field, especially on issues related to the war in Europe.
Moreover, Taylor also intervened on Roosevelt's account of the Catholic situation in the United States to the Pope. Taylor, for example, told the Pope about the anti-Semitism of American Catholics.
Taylor also conveyed to the Pope that Roosevelt wanted to appoint Bernard Hill as Archbishop of Chicago.
Second, the "Taylor mission" shifts to perpetuity. Originally, Roosevelt, in order to reduce Protestant opposition, emphasized the temporary and personal nature of the trip. But with Taylor's arrival in Rome, the "Taylor Mission" began to take on permanent character.
For example, Taylor's office in Rome was established, and the State Department staffed him with special assistants and staff. For example, Secretary Hull hesitated only slightly to allow Taylor to use State Department letterhead.
Taylor was merely President Roosevelt's personal representative, but that did not undermine his diplomatic status, and in a way, he played the role of ambassador. And Taylor was fully willing to accept his special role, insisting that this uniqueness would not lead to a decline in his popularity.
Roosevelt, he proudly wrote, wanted to "make my office different in every way from other diplomatic ambassadors."
He also claims that this status gives him some advantages. For example, he is relatively free, and he can avoid the harassment of American tourists, and do not have to deal with notes, interviews, tickets, mobile phones, beds, accommodation, etc. for them.
When Taylor first visited Rome, both the United States and the Vatican wanted to prevent the war from expanding further, and one of the key steps was to prevent Italy from joining the German side.
Many scholars also believe that an important reason for the strengthening of ties between the United States and the United States and the United States was to prevent Italy from entering the war. For example, the scholar Gerald Fogarty believes that both the United States and the Vatican are opposed to Italy's involvement in the war, and that the United States sending a representative to Rome is an attempt to prevent Italy from getting involved in the war.
The Taylor Mission established a direct channel of communication between the president and the pope, giving them the opportunity to work together on a common goal. In fact, before the introduction of the "Taylor Mission", the United States and the United States and the Vatican each took some measures to prevent Italy from entering the war.
On April 14, 1939, Roosevelt appealed to Mussolini and Hitler to resolve the existing crisis in Europe peacefully.
Roosevelt also asked Deputy Secretary of State Welles to call Reddy, secretary general of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, and asked him to convey to the Pope to support the U.S. call for peace. Reddy told the news to the Pontifical Representative of Washington Higonani.
On April 18, Higonani received a reply stating that the Pope had been closely following President Roosevelt's peace operations. Unfortunately, with the current relationship between the Holy See and Germany, the Pope could not have interfered directly with Hitler's actions.
But the pope said he could send the papal secretary of state, Malenet, to get in touch with the Italian government.
However, Marione said that because the German-Italian relationship was too close, he did not expect much from it. When Wells learned the news, he thanked Reddy. At the same time, he hopes that the pope will publicly speak out in support of peace, which he believes will benefit the world.
But the Pope did not take that advice. However, this does not mean that the Vatican will stand idly by. In fact, it was preventing Italy from entering the war in its own way.
In May 1939, after the signing of the Treaty of Political Alliance between Germany and Italy, the Pope contacted the Italian government, which at that time promised neutrality. On September 1, Germany attacked Poland and Italy declared its neutrality.
But soon, Italy's neutrality became highly uncertain. Its foreign minister, Ziano and others, insisted on neutrality, but Mussolini and others preferred to intervene.
On September 6, the Pope sent Father Tachki-Venturi to visit Mussolini to urge the Italian leadership to maintain a policy of neutrality. But Mussolini refused to receive him, and sent Ziano to consult with him. Ziano said Italy's neutrality was firm, but the future was unknown and the situation could force Italy to abandon it.
However, Pope Pius XII still used every opportunity to make a peaceful appeal to Italy. For example, on September 12 and December 31, respectively, the Pope received the new Italian ambassador and the king and queen of Italy, praising Italy's wise decision not to enter the war. However, Mussolini later said in a letter to Hitler that the Pope would not influence Italian policy.