Vatican’s View of the Ambassador

● Anne O’Hare McCormick is one of the top writers of the highly respected New York Times. She is on friendly terms with many officials and reports firsthand on their views. In her December 23 column from Rome (published December 24) she shed light on the Vatican’s attitude toward the proposed American ambassador, saying: “There is surprise at the amount and violence of American opposition to the president’s move. Church officials say emphatically that it would be better not to have an ambassador than to stir up sectarian feeling and religious controversy in the United States. It is understood that this is the view of the pope himself. . . . Advocates who argue that the appointment is not to a religious leader but to the ruler of the scrap of real estate called Vatican City do not get much support here. The mission is either to the pope as the head of a world-wide church or it is nothing, it is pointed out; to pretend anything else is to make the appointment useless or reduce it to absurdity. All other countries sending representatives to the Vatican accredit them to the Holy See, and if the United States decides to send one at all it will follow the regular formula.”