Correspondence between Pope Pius XII and President Roosevelt

1

Pius Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D-NY)

Myron C. Taylor (December 23, 1939)

Letter from President Roosevelt to His Holiness

December 23, 1939

Your Holiness:

Because, at this Christmas time, the world is in sorrow, it is especially fitting that I send you a message of greeting and of faith.

The world has created for itself a civilization capable of giving to mankind security and peace firmly set in the foundations of religious teachings. Yet, though it has conquered the earth, the sea, and even the air, civilization today passes through war and travail.

I take heart in remembering that in a similar time, Isaiah first prophesied the birth of Christ. Then, several centuries before His coming, the condition of the world was not unlike that which we see today. Then, as now, a conflagration had been set; and nations walked dangerously in the light of the fires they had themselves kindled. But in that very moment a spiritual rebirth was foreseen, a new day which was to loose the captives and to consume the conquerors in the fire of their own kindling; and those who had taken the sword were to perish by the sword. There was promised a new age wherein through renewed faith the upward progress of the human race would become more secure.

Again, during the several centuries which we refer to as the Dark Ages, the flame and sword of barbarians swept over Western civilization; and, again, through a rekindling of the inherent spiritual spark in mankind, another rebirth brought back order and culture and religion.

I believe that the travail of today is a new form of these old conflicts. Because the tempo of all worldly things has been so greatly accelerated in these modern days we can hope that the period of darkness and destruction will be vastly shorter than in the olden times.

In their hearts men decline to accept, for long, the law of destruction forced upon them by wielders of brute force. Always they seek, sometimes in silence, to find again the faith without which the welfare of nations and the peace of the world cannot be rebuilt.

I have the rare privilege of reading the letters and confidences of thousands of humble people, living in scores of different nations. Their names are not known to history, but their daily work and courage carry on the life of the world. I know that these, and uncounted numbers like them in every country, are looking for a guiding light. We remember that the Christmas Star was first seen by shepherds in the hills, long before the leaders knew of the Great Light which had entered the world.

I believe that while statesmen are considering a new order of things, the new order may well be at hand. I believe that it is even now being built, silently but inevitably, in the hearts of masses whose voices are not heard, but whose common faith will write the final history of our time. They know that unless there is belief in some guiding principle and some trust in a divine plan, nations are without light, and peoples perish. They know that the civilization handed down to us by our fathers was built by men and women who knew in their hearts that all were brothers because they were children of God. They believe that by His will enmities can be healed; that in His mercy the weak can find deliverance, and the strong can find grace in helping the weak.

In the grief and terror of the hour, these quiet voices, if they can be heard, may yet tell of the rebuilding of the world.

It is well that the world should think of this at Christmas.

Because the people of this nation have come to a realization that time and distance no longer exist in the older sense, they understand that that which harms one segment of humanity harms all the rest. They know that only by friendly association between the seekers of light and the seekers of peace everywhere can the forces of evil be overcome.

In these present moments, no spiritual leader, no civil leader can move forward on a specific plan to terminate destruction and build anew. Yet the time for that will surely come.

It is, therefore, my thought that though no given action or given time may now be prophesied, it is well that we encourage a closer association between those in every part of the world those in religion and those in government who have a common purpose.

I am, therefore, suggesting to Your Holiness that it would give me great satisfaction to send to You my personal representative in order that our parallel endeavors for peace and the alleviation of suffering may be assisted.

When the time shall come for the reestablishment of world peace on a surer foundation, it is of the utmost importance to humanity and to religion that common ideals shall have united expression.

Furthermore, when that happy day shall dawn, great problems of practical import will face us all. Millions of people of all races, all nationalities and all religions may seek new lives by migration to other lands or by reestablishment of old homes. Here, too, common ideals call for parallel action.

I trust, therefore, that all of the churches of the world which believe in a common God will throw the great weight of their influence into this great cause.

To You, whom I have the privilege of calling a good friend and an old friend, I send my respectful greetings at this Christmas Season.

Cordially yours,
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

2 Likes
2

Vatican Publishing House (January 7, 1940)

Reply of His Holiness to President Roosevelt

January 7, 1940

Your Excellency:

The memorable message that Your Excellency was pleased to have forwarded to Us on the eve of the Holy Feast of Christmas has brightened with a ray of consolation, of hope and confidence, the suffering, the heart-rending fear and the bitterness of the peoples caught up in the vortex of war. For this all right-minded men have paid you the spontaneous tribute of their sincere gratitude.

We have been deeply moved by the noble thought contained in your note, in which the spirit of Christmas and the desire to see it applied to the great human problems have found such eloquent expression; and fully persuaded of its extraordinary importance We lost no time in communicating it to the distinguished gathering present that very morning in the Consistorial Hall of this Apostolic Vatican Palace, solemnly expressing before the world, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, Our appreciation of this courageous document, inspired by a far-seeing statesmanship and a profound human sympathy.

We have been particularly impressed by one characteristic feature of Your Excellency’s message: the vital, spiritual contact with the thoughts and the feelings, the hopes and the aspirations of the masses of the people, of those classes, namely, on whom more than others, and in a measure never felt before, weighs the burden of sorrow and sacrifice imposed by the present restless and tempestuous hour. Also for this reason none perhaps better than We can understand the meaning, the revealing power and the warmth of feeling manifest in this act of Your Excellency. In fact Our own daily experience tells Us of the deep-seated yearning for peace that fills the hearts of the common people. In the measure that the war with its direct and indirect repercussions spreads; and the more economic, social and family life is forcibly wrenched from its normal bases by the continuation of the war, and is forced along the way of sacrifice and every kind of privation, the bitter need of which is not always plain to all; so much the more intense is the longing for peace that pervades the hearts of men and their determination to find and to apply the means that lead to peace.

When that day dawns – and We would like to hope that it is not too far distant – on which the roar of battle will lapse into silence and there will arise the possibility of establishing a true and sound peace dictated by the principles of justice and equity, only he will be able to discern the path that should be followed who unites with high political power a clear understanding of the voice of humanity along with a sincere reverence for the divine precepts of life as found in the Gospel of Christ. Only men of such moral stature will be able to create the peace, that will compensate for the incalculable sacrifices of this war and clear the way for a comity of nations, fair to all, efficacious and sustained by mutual confidence.

We are fully aware of how stubborn the obstacles are that stand in the way of attaining this goal, and how they become daily more difficult to surmount. And if the friends of peace do not wish their labors to be in vain, they should visualize distinctly the seriousness of these obstacles, and the consequently slight probability of immediate success so long as the present state of the opposing forces remains essentially unchanged.

As Vicar on earth of the Prince of Peace, from the first days of Our Pontificate We have dedicated Our efforts and Our solicitude to the purpose of maintaining peace, and afterwards of re-establishing it. Heedless of momentary lack of success and of the difficulties involved, We are continuing to follow along the path marked out for Us by Our Apostolic mission. As We walk this path, often rough and thorny, the echo which reaches Us from countless souls, both within and outside the Church together with the consciousness of duty done, is for Us abundant and consoling reward.

And now that in this hour of world-wide pain and misgiving the Chief Magistrate of the great North American Federation, under the spell of the Holy Night of Christmas, should have taken such a prominent place in the vanguard of those who would promote peace and generously succor the victims of the war, bespeaks a providential help, which We acknowledge with grateful joy and increased confidence. It is an exemplary act of fraternal and hearty solidarity between the New and the Old World in defence against the chilling breath of aggressive and deadly godless and anti-Christian tendencies, that threaten to dry up the fountain head, whence civilization has come and drawn its strength.

In such circumstances We shall find a special satisfaction, as We have already informed Your Excellency, in receiving with all the honor due to his well-known qualifications and to the dignity of his important mission, the representative who is to be sent to Us as the faithful interpreter of your mind regarding the procuring of peace and the alleviation of sufferings consequent upon the war.

Recalling with keen joy the pleasant memories left Us after Our unforgettable visit to your great nation, and living over again the sincere pleasure that personal acquaintance with Your Excellency brought Us, We express in turn Our hearty good wishes, with a most fervent prayer for the prosperity of Your Excellency and of all the people of the United States.

PIUS PP. XII
Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, the 7th day of January, 1940, the First Year of Our Pontificate.

2 Likes
3

Myron C. Taylor (February 14, 1940)

Letter from President Roosevelt to His Holiness

February 14, 1940

Your Holiness:

In my letter of December 23, 1939, I had the honor to suggest that it would give me great satisfaction to send to You my own representative in order that our parallel endeavors for peace and the alleviation of suffering might be assisted. Your Holiness was good enough to reply that the choice of Mr. Myron C. Taylor as my representative was acceptable and that You would receive him.

I am entrusting this special mission to Mr. Taylor who is a very old friend of mine, and in whom I repose the utmost confidence. His humanitarian efforts in behalf of those whom political disruption has rendered homeless are well known to Your Holiness. I shall be happy to feel that he may be the channel of communications for any views You and I may wish to exchange in the interest of concord among the peoples of the world.

I am asking Mr. Taylor to convey my cordial greetings to You, my old and good friend, and my sincere hope that the common ideals of religion and humanity itself can have united expression for the reestablishment of a more permanent peace on the foundations of freedom and an assurance of life and integrity of all nations under God.

Cordially Your friend,
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

1 Like
4

Vatican Publishing House (March 16, 1940)

Reply of His Holiness to President Roosevelt

March 16, 1940

Your Excellency:

The pleasure which was Ours on the 27th day of February as We received in Solemn Audience the Representative of Your Excellency was enhanced by the autograph letter which he bore from you and placed into Our hands. We are sincerely grateful for this further evidence of your solicitude for the restoration of peace among nations now estranged as well as for the expressions of cordial greeting which you have been pleased to use in Our regard.

We confess to have been sensibly affected as We beheld before Us your own Representative come upon a noble mission of peace and healing, to seek with Us ways and means of giving back to a warring world its rightful heritage of concord and the freedom to pursue in justice and tranquillity its temporal and eternal happiness. In a moment of universal travail, when hope contends with fear in the souls of so many millions of men, We have been greatly encouraged by the vision of new possibilities of beneficent action opened up to us through the presence near Us of your distinguished Representative. Since the obligations of Christian charity towards the needy and the dispossessed have ever constituted a prior claim upon Our affections and resources as they have upon those of Our Predecessors, it is with particular satisfaction that We welcome Your Excellency’s endeavors for the alleviation of suffering. Our contemporaries follow with their heartfelt prayers, and posterity will hold in honored memory, all those who, undeterred by immense difficulties, dedicate themselves to the sacred task of staunching the flow of youthful blood upon the fields of battle, and to the comforting of civilian victims despoiled and afflicted by the cruel conditions of our day. Blessed, indeed, are the peacemakers.

And although one who with discerning eye surveys the present international scene can have no illusions as to the magnitude of the role which has been undertaken, We are convinced that it is in the interest of all that We should go forward with Our labors to the end that the days of grievous trial be shortened, preparing and straightening the way, levelling the mountains of anger which bar the road to understanding and filling up the valleys of distrust and suspicion which divide man from man and nation from nation. Thus may We hope that the natural law, graven by the Creator on the hearts of men, may soon, as it must ultimately, prevail as the universal rule of human conduct over arbitrary whim and sordid interest which here and there have usurped its place, and that in consequence the rising generation may be saved from the moral illiteracy with which they are threatened. And thus, when all shall have come finally to realize that violence is futile and that hatred is a sterile force, a wearied world may rejoice in a peace built upon the solid foundation of justice and firmly held together by the bonds of fraternal charity.

We renew to Your Excellency the expression of Our gratitude for your greeting while, in the light of happy remembrance, We pray for your continued well-being and for that of the American people.

PIUS PP. XII
Given at Rome, from St. Peter’s, the 16th day of March, 1940, the Second Year of Our Pontificate.

1 Like
5

Vatican Publishing House (August 22, 1940)

Letter from His Holiness to President Roosevelt

August 22, 1940

Your Excellency:

The return to the United States of Your Excellency’s Personal Representative to Us, for the purpose of recruiting in the homeland the forces so generously spent in the fulfilment of his noble mission, affords Us a welcome opportunity of sending you Our cordial greetings and of reiterating Our appreciation for the presence of Your Envoy near Us. In the light of experience, We now have further and ampler proof of the wisdom which inspired Your Excellency to despatch your Representative to Us, as We also have cause to rejoice at the felicity of choice which led you to entrust this important post to the Honorable Myron C. Taylor.

These first months of mission have occasioned Us great satisfaction and, in spite of the dark foreboding of the hour, We express Our hope in a future which shall see the re-establishment of a general and enduring peace. Although the horrors of the war increase and Our sorrow deepens with every passing day, We are redoubling Our prayers and our endeavours to find a practicable way to such a peace, as will bear within it the promise of permanency, and free men from the heavy incubus of insecurity and of perpetual alarms. In Our unceasing search for that peace which will be no longer be, as so often in the past, a parenthesis of exhaustion between two phases of conflict, but rather, by the grace of God, a golden era of Christian concord dedicated to the spiritual and material improvement of humanity, We feel a distinct sense of comfort in the thought that We shall not be without the powerful support of the President of the United States.

It is therefore with heartfelt good will that we again assure Your Excellency of Our prayer for your continued health and happiness and for the prosperity and progress of the American people.

PIUS PP. XII
Given at Rome, from St. Peter’s, the 22nd day of August, 1940, the Second Year of Our Pontificate.

1 Like
6

Myron C. Taylor (October 1, 1940)

Reply of President Roosevelt to His Holiness

October 1, 1940

Your Holiness,

Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Myron C. Taylor duly delivered to me Your message of August 22 and I am deeply gratified by Your Holiness’ expression of satisfaction concerning Mr. Taylor’s mission.

Particular note has been taken of the assurance of Your Holiness’ continuing efforts to find the way to a peace which bears promise not only of permanency, but also of freedom from perpetual alarm and opportunity for the spiritual and material improvement of humanity. It seems imperative that this search shall not be abandoned, no matter how deep may be the shadow of the present strife. It is equally necessary to realize that peace as Your Holiness conceives it must be based upon the reestablishment of Christian law and doctrine as the guiding principles which govern the relations of free men and free nations. The spiritual freedom and political independence which alone make possible this rebuilding of the structure of peace thus become a necessary part of our common goal. In the search of it, the Government and people of the United States are glad to lend their sympathy and to devote their efforts.

May I assure Your Holiness of my profound appreciation of the reception accorded to Mr. Taylor and of Your message of goodwill.

May I also take this occasion to send to Your Holiness my very deep personal good wishes and to express my hope and wish for Your continued good health. The whole world needs You in its search for peace and goodwill.

Faithfully yours,
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

1 Like
7

Vatican Publishing House (December 20, 1940)

Letter from His Holiness to President Roosevelt

December 20, 1940

His Excellency Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States of America
Washington, DC

In being elected for a third term to the Presidency of the United States of America, at a time of such grave moment for the life of nations, Your Excellency has received from your country a singular proof of confidence.

The personal relations had with Your Excellency on the occasion of Our visit to the United States, when We were Cardinal Secretary of State to the late lamented Supreme Pontiff, and the gracious reception you extended to Us, put Us in the way to appreciate your generous spirit; and today, while We offer you congratulations, We pray Almighty God to guide your mind and heart in the noble and arduous task of leading a free and vigorous people for the greater stability of universal order, justice and peace.

A tangible proof of these generous dispositions We have had in your sending His Excellency Mr. Myron Taylor to Us, as your Personal Representative with rank of Ambassador Extraordinary. Special circumstances have interrupted his presence with Us; but We like to hope that the plan for the attainment of those high ideals you had in mind may yet be realized.

Indeed, We are not unaware of the efforts which you made to prevent the catastrophic struggle that is heaping up ruin and sorrow for a great part of the Old World; and in Our paternal solicitude for suffering humanity there is nothing We desire more ardently than to see true peace return at long last among peoples, who have been too long and too painfully stricken and afflicted: that true peace, We mean, that will adjust all wrongs, that will recognize with well-judged equity the vital necessities of all, and thus mark for the world the beginning of a new era of tranquility, collaboration and progress among peoples under the longed-for reign of Christian justice and charity.

While We renew the expression of Our good wishes for you personally and for the nation over which you preside, We invoke on both an abundance of God’s blessings.

PIUS PP. XII
Given at Rome, from the Palace of the Vatican, the 20th day of December, 1940, the Second Year of Our Pontificate.

1 Like
8

Myron C. Taylor (March 3, 1941)

Reply of President Roosevelt to His Holiness

March 3, 1941

Your Holiness:

Your Holiness has been good enough to send me a message upon the occasion of my re-election to the Presidency of the United States of America and to recall the cordial relations I had with Your Holiness when, as Cardinal Secretary of State, You visited this country.

I take this occasion not only to express my profound appreciation of Your message but to reiterate the hope that through friendly association between the seekers of light and the seekers of peace everywhere a firm basis of lasting concord between men and nations can be established throughout the world once again. Only when the principles of Christianity and the right of all peoples to live free from the threat of external aggression are established can that peace which Your Holiness and I so ardently desire be found.

To my deep regret Mr. Myron Taylor has been obliged to interrupt his mission in Italy but I hope that his health may soon be sufficiently restored to enable him to return to Rome.

Believe me, with the assurances of my highest regard,

Yours very sincerely,
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

1 Like
9

Myron C. Taylor (April 13, 1941)

Message from President Roosevelt to His Holiness

[Telegram]

Easter April, 1941

His Holiness Pope Pius XII
Vatican City

Your Holiness:

I send You my most cordial greetings at Easter. The time is admittedly full of pain and danger. Yet from all parts of the world messages reach me which justify the high hope that the light of the world is being rekindled. These messages make it plain that courageous spirits are everywhere arising above fear, and that ever/increasing numbers of brave souls refuse to be separated from their Father in Heaven or from their brothers on earth by force or by falsehoods or by fear. So long as the human spirit is undefeated, the great elementary human freedoms will inevitably be triumphant. Here in the United States we believe that freedom of worship is the first and greatest need of us all. For that reason we have exerted all of our influence against religious persecutions, which for the first time in centuries again threaten the brotherhood of man in many parts of the world. We have likewise sought freedom of information so that no conqueror can enslave men’s minds or prevent them from finding their way to the truth. We have set our minds to attaining freedom from fear, so that no man, no family, no nation, need live perpetually under the shadow of danger from bombs, invasion, and ensuing devastation. And we propose to forward the cause of freedom from want by direct relief where this is possible and necessary and by so improving the economic processes of life that children may be born and families may be reared in safety and comfort. I am convinced that such a rebirth of the moral sense of humanity can muster a force infinitely greater than that of a transient parade of arms with nothing behind it save the confusion and corruption of a group which has lost all spiritual values, and solely lust for power. Only the most short-sighted of statesmen can fail to see this. Let me include in my greetings this Easter not merely a sense of hope which reaches me from many lands, but also my considered conviction that these great freedoms are once more attainable. Their achievement only awaits the resolute action of men who answer bravely the clear call to their ancient fidelity to the Lord and to their fellow men.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

1 Like
10

Vatican Publishing House (April 13, 1941)

Message from His Holiness to President Roosevelt

[Telegram]

Easter April, 1941

His Excellency Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States of America
Washington, DC

We thank Your Excellency for the greetings which you have so kindly sent Us for Easter. In these festive days of joyful commemoration Our heart is particularly saddened by the thought of the massacre and widespread devastation which the present conflict is leaving in its wake. In the name of human civilization and above all inspired by that divine love brought to man by the Redeemer We have not failed and We shall not fail to do everything possible to alleviate the sufferings of those in need and in carrying out this beneficent work of charity We have found unbounded sympathy and generous cooperation among Our beloved children of the United States. Not content with this We have felt and We feel it Our duty to raise Our voice, the voice of a Father not moved by any earthly interests but animated only by a desire for the common good of all, in a plea for a peace that will be genuine, just, honorable, and lasting; a peace that will respect individuals, families and nations and safeguard their rights to life, to a reasonable liberty, to a conscientious and fervent practice of religion, to true progress, and to an equitable participation in the riches which Providence has distributed with largess over the earth; a peace whose spirit and provisions will tend to revitalize and reinvigorate through new and enlightened organization the true spirit of brotherhood among men today so tragically alienated one from another. With these hopes which find expression in Our fervent prayer to the Divine Goodness We are happy in turn to assure Your Excellency at this Eastertide of Our good wishes not only for your personal welfare but also for the prosperity of the great and cherished people of the United States.

PIUS PP. XII

1 Like
11

Myron C. Taylor (September 3, 1941)

Letter from President Roosevelt to His Holiness

September 3, 1941

Your Holiness:

At my request, Mr. Myron Taylor will discuss with Your Holiness certain matters with regard to which I am very desirous that he explain my feelings and American opinion. These are matters in regard to which I feel very strongly.

The first of these relates to the problem of the attitude of the Russian Government and the Russian people toward religion. In so far as I am informed, churches in Russia are open. I believe there is a real possibility that Russia may as a result of the present conflict recognize freedom of religion in Russia, although, of course, without recognition of any official intervention on the part of any church in education or political matters within Russia. I feel that if this can be accomplished it will put the possibility of the restoration of real religious liberty in Russia on a much better footing than religious freedom is in Germany today.

There are in the United States many people in all churches who have the feeling that Russia is governed completely by a communistic form of society. In my opinion, the fact is that Russia is governed by a dictatorship, as rigid in its manner of being as is the dictatorship in Germany. I believe, however, that this Russian dictatorship is less dangerous to the safety of other nations than is the German form of dictatorship. The only weapon which the Russian dictatorship uses outside of its own borders is communist propaganda which I, of course, recognize has in the past been utilized for the purpose of breaking down the form of government in other countries, religious belief, et cetera. Germany, however, not only has utilized, but is utilizing, this kind of propaganda as well and has also undertaken the employment of every form of military aggression outside of its borders for the purpose of world conquest by force of arms and by force of propaganda. I believe that the survival of Russia is less dangerous to religion, to the church as such, and to humanity in general than would be the survival of the German form of dictatorship. Furthermore, it is my belief that the leaders of all churches in the United States should recognize these facts clearly and should not close their eyes to these basic questions and by their present attitude on this question directly assist Germany in her present objectives.

Bearing in mind the common desire which Your Holiness and I share that a firm basis for lasting concord between men and nations founded on the principles of Christianity can again be established, I have asked Mr. Taylor to explain my feelings in this matter in order that Your Holiness may understand my position in this respect.

Believe me, with the assurances of my highest regard.

Yours very sincerely,
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

1 Like
12

Vatican Publishing House (September 20, 1941)

Reply of His Holiness to President Roosevelt

September 20, 1941

Your Excellency:

We have received with satisfaction and pleasure your esteemed letter of September third and We gladly avail Ourselves of the return to Washington of His Excellency Mr. Myron C. Taylor to forward to you this note of cordial acknowledgment.

We learned with gratification of the coming of your Personal Representative, who has always been a devoted and conscientious bearer of tidings from Your Excellency and who remains a welcome link between you and Us.

Mr. Taylor has called upon Us several times and We have been very happy to receive him on each occasion. He has presented to Us a full exposition of those matters which are uppermost in the mind of Your Excellency at the present time and he has graciously informed Us of your personal feelings and of the general sentiment of your people. We, in turn, have expressed to Mr. Taylor Our point of view regarding the important matters which were dealt with in our conversations. He has assured Us that, upon his return to Washington, he will give Your Excellency an accurate report in this regard.

It is Our constant prayer and sincere hope that Almighty God may hasten the day when men and nations now at war will enjoy the blessings of a true and enduring peace – a peace in which We confidently foresee embodied those fundamental Christian principles, whose application can assure the victory of love over hate, right over might, justice over egoism, and in which the search for eternal values will prevail over the quest for merely temporal goods. Meanwhile We find Ourselves, however, face to face with the appalling and heart-sickening consequences of modern warfare. In these tragic circumstances We are endeavoring, with all the forces at Our disposal, to bring material and spiritual comfort to countless thousands who are numbered amongst the innocent and helpless victims. We should like, on this occasion, to express to Your Excellency Our cordial appreciation of the magnificent assistance which the American people have given, and continue to offer, in this mission of mercy. They are, indeed, demonstrating once again a charitable understanding of the needs of their suffering fellow men and a noble desire to alleviate their misery.

In reassuring you of Our ceaseless and untiring efforts in the cause of peace, we renew to Your Excellency the expression of Our heartfelt good wishes, with a fervent prayer for the personal welfare of Your Excellency and for the prosperity of the cherished people of the United States.

PIUS PP. XII
From the Vatican, September 20, 1941

1 Like