Office of the Historian

500.CC/9–2244

Mr. Myron C. Taylor, Personal Representative of President Roosevelt to Pope Pius XII, to the President1

[Vatican City,] September 10, 1944.

Dear Mr. President: I recently wired you2 that His Holiness had requested more detailed information than I had as yet seen fit to give to him in respect to the International Organization for the Preservation of Peace.3 In my wire I enquire to what extent Secretary Hull and yourself wished me to go in explaining the details of the plan which I followed in the consultations4 which I had with Chief Justice Hughes,5 Honorable John W. Davis6 and Honorable Nathan L. Miller.7

I now have a similar written request from His Holiness, of which I am attaching a copy. Your advice in the premises will be very greatly appreciated and with best regards, believe me.

Sincerely yours,

Myron C. Taylor
[Enclosure]

The Papal Under Secretary of State (Montini) to Mr. Myron C. Taylor, Personal Representative of President Roosevelt to Pope Pius XII

No. 82564/SA
[Vatican City,] September 4, 1944.

Your Excellency: His Holiness has graciously indicated to me that in your Audience of August 30th you made reference to an [Page 961] International Organization for the Preservation of Peace, which is the object of serious study of President Roosevelt and his advisers.

Since the Holy See, by the very nature of its high mission, is deeply interested in any project which might further the cause of lasting peace, I should be indeed grateful if you were to find it possible to provide me with further details regarding the nature of the proposed organization and the plans for its activation and development.

With the renewed assurance [etc.]

G[iovanni] B. Montini
  1. Copy transmitted to the Secretary of State with the following memorandum of September 22, 1944, from President Roosevelt: “For preparation of reply for my signature.”↩
  2. Telegram 301, September 6, 10 a.m., not printed.↩
  3. For correspondence on this subject, see pp. 614 ff.↩
  4. In April and May of 1944 Secretary of State Hull authorized Mr. Taylor, who was a member of the Department of State Informal Political Agenda Group concerned with a “Possible Plan for the Establishment of an International Organization for the Maintenance of International Peace and Security”, to hold consultations with the three jurists mentioned. See Postwar Foreign Policy Preparation, 1939–1945 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1949), pp. 169–173, 247–255 and 263–265.↩
  5. Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of the United States, 1930–1941.↩
  6. Democratic presidential candidate in 1924.↩
  7. Governor of New York, 1921–1923.↩