Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Western Europe, Volume VII, Part 2

386. Memorandum of Conversation⁰

Rome, September 23, 1958.

PARTICIPANTS

• Msgr. Igino Cardinale, Vatican Secretariat of State
• August Velletri, Second Secretary of Embassy

On the morning of September 23, 1958 the reporting officer had a meeting with Msgr. Igino Cardinale, personal assistant to Msgr. Angelo Dell’Acqua, Substitute Secretary of State for the Holy See. While commenting on the clerical aspects of the notorious financial scandal of the Giuffré case,¹ Msgr. Cardinale interrupted himself to say that he wished to discuss in strict confidence a telephone call he had received the night before from Chicago.

Msgr. Cardinale went on to explain that a Mr. John Keeshin, a prominent businessman from that city who is also well known to the Secretariat and the Holy Father, had telephoned to ascertain the attitude of the Holy See regarding the possibility of re-establishing in Rome a U.S. mission similar to that once headed by Mr. Myron Taylor.²

According to the information provided by Mr. Keeshin, the question had been privately posed by Mr. Sherman Adams, Assistant to President Eisenhower. Mr. Keeshin and Mr. Adams are very good friends and presumably the White House wished to make use of private channels to avoid official contacts. This is the reason why Mr. Adams approached Mr. Keeshin rather than Msgr. Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate in Washington.

Msgr. Cardinale informed the reporting officer that Mr. Keeshin got in touch with Msgr. Paul Tanner, Executive Secretary of the American Episcopal Commission,³ to sound out ecclesiastical opinion. The reply of Msgr. Tanner was that in his considered judgment the Holy See would not accept a personal representative of the President but would insist on a full diplomatic exchange in the event the U.S. should actually consider recognition of the Holy See. In view of this answer, Mr. Keeshin took it upon himself to telephone the Vatican in order to be sure that Msgr. Tanner’s views were supported by Vatican officials.

Msgr. Cardinale said that he told Mr. Keeshin he could not give a categorical answer to such a delicate question during the course of a telephone conversation. He expressed the personal view, however, that even if a personal representative were to be accepted as a de facto solution to the problem of U.S.–Vatican relations, he (Msgr. Cardinale) was positive that the Holy Father would demand a quid pro quo, although this would not necessarily require the stationing of a papal diplomatic agent in Washington. Msgr. Cardinale also told Mr. Keeshin that he should contact the Apostolic Delegate in Washington, who should be apprised of Mr. Adams’ initiative, so that it could reach Rome in a semi-official form and be studied appropriately.

Msgr. Cardinale said that immediately following the call he consulted with his chief, Msgr. Dell’Acqua, and both agreed not to mention the incident to the Holy Father. In reply to a question Msgr. Cardinale said that neither he nor Dell’Acqua were sure that Mr. Adams’ approaches were serious (the Monsignor swears by the reliability of Mr. Keeshin) and that they could not risk having the Holy Father think the Secretariat had been involved in any way in raising the subject of U.S.–Vatican relations. Msgr. Cardinale further added that he already had sent a message to Washington alerting Msgr. Cicognani on a probable visit by Mr. Keeshin.

Msgr. Cardinale confided to the reporting officer that he was at a loss to understand this move from the White House. Have American officials decided to re-establish official contact with the Holy See because the international situation was becoming serious and the U.S. needed the moral support of the Church in maintaining the unity of the West? Why then was Mr. Murphy, who in the past has discussed the same problem with Msgr. Cicognani, not consulted?⁴ The Monsignor tried to answer his own question but found no ready answer. He assured the reporting officer that Mr. Keeshin was a most reliable and trustworthy individual. He said Mr. Keeshin had been introduced to Msgr. Dell’Acqua by Msgr. Bernard James Sheil, Auxiliary Bishop of the Chicago Archdiocese, and for the past several years has enjoyed the confidence of the Substitute Secretary of State as well as his own. Therefore, there was no reason to doubt that Mr. Adams did make the inquiry. Msgr. Cardinale asked the reporting officer if he could find out in a very discreet manner whether Mr. Adams’ proposal was purely wishful thinking to test Vatican reaction or whether it was prompted by a sincere desire to arrive at some sort of mutually satisfactory agreement. He repeatedly reminded the reporting officer that there must be no indication the Holy See is either pressing or even showing a direct interest in the whole matter.⁵

0. Source: Department of State, Italian Desk Files: Lot 68 D 436, Vatican Foreign Relations. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Velletri. Transmitted to the Department as an enclosure to Document 387.
1. Giovanni Battista Guiffré, a Romagnole financier, headed an investment firm which promised small investors high interest on deposits used to finance the repair or construction of hospitals, churches, and other religiously affiliated buildings. A large portion of Guiffré’s investors were members of Roman Catholic religious orders. An investigation of Guiffré’s operations was begun by Luigi Preti, Finance Minister in the Fanfani government.
2. Myron Taylor served as the personal representative of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman to Pope Pius XII, 1939–1950.
3. The National Catholic Welfare Conference.
4. No record of these conversations has been found.
5. No further documentation on a possible resumption of diplomatic relations has been found. Sherman Adams resigned as Assistant to the President on September 22 and Pope Pius XII died on October 9.