AXIS REPORTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 July 1943, Page 3

AXIS REPORTS

ON THE BOMBING OF ROME DENIED BY THE VATICAN RADIO. IMPARTIAL STAND TAKEN BY POPE. ißy Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, July 25. _ The Vatican Radio has denied Axis reports that the Pope sent a personal protest to President Roosevelt following the bombing of Rome or that he called the United States charge d’affaires to the Vatican. “Because the Pope’s movements after the bombing have been incorrectly interpreted,” the radio said, “it is necessary to recall firstly that the Pope accompanied by only one other person visited the damaged areas on the evening of the raid; second, the letter which the Pope sent to the Cardinal of Rome on Tuesday was published originally in the Vatican newspaper from which various agencies, including the Stefani, picked it up. The Pope • did not say that the Basilica of San Lorenzo was almost entirely destroyed, but he did say it was damaged. “The Pope wishes to emphasise his readiness to believe that the American pilots did not intentionally damage the Basilica. He knows it is practically impossible to bomb the holy ground on which Rome stands without harming or damaging some site of sacred and traditional value. The Pope is impartial and does not intend to increase the hatred between the opposing sides, but to serve the ideal of understanding and humanity.”