X Message from His Holiness to President Roosevelt [TELEGRAM] EASTER--APRIL, 1941 His Excellency Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States of America Washington, D. C. 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 con- tent 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 in- terests 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 pro- gress, 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 revig- orate 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 -53- |