For a Vatican Ambassador

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Your editorial of January 19 brings up the point that the argument over the ambassadorship to the Vatican has not blown itself out but is just waiting for another appointment by President Truman to replace General Mark Clark to resume its force.

The writer of that editorial claims that the presence of an ambassador would be a seal of acceptance by the United States of the Vatican's influence on world affairs. Around fifteen non-Catholic countries--Britain among them--have representatives in the Vatican and don't seem to be outraged at the fact that their government maintains relations with the Vatican. Why? Simply because they realize that just because they recognize the Vatican, they have not recognized its policies. They also know the value of maintaining relations with a country which has control--not over a large amount of land--which is not necessarily all-important--but over such a vast number of people, which certainly does matter.

The Catholic Church is the only religious organization in the United States which formally has a government consisting of an army--however small, ambassadors, and other such formalities which a government must have. Therefore, since the Vatican is a government in its own right, why would it be discriminating against other religions to give it an ambassador? If they ever have such an established state and have universal control over such a multitude of people, then, by all means, they should also have an ambassador.

President Truman simply recognized the advantages--as other Catholic and non-Catholic countries have--of maintaining relations with the Vatican and took the step which he thought most logical despite the large amount of opposition he knew he must face. Daniel J. Donahoe III '55

The CRIMSON editorial opposed the sending of an ambassador to the Vatican; it did not advocate breaking off all diplomatic relations. Furthermore, no non-Cathelie country has an ambassador at the Vatican, and few of them have anything approaching the complete separation of church and state which exists in the U.S.