3339 Massachusetts Avenue
 
Washington, D.C.
 
 
October 20, 1943  
 
 
My dear Mr. Stettinius,
 
     
 
 
On October twelfth I had the honor to present to the President of the   
United States and to the Department of State, through the good offices of   
the Honorable Myron C. Taylor, a Memorandum which the Cardinal Secretary of   
State had instructed me to draw up with reference to the possibilities of   
serious disorders in Rome in the period between evacuation by the Germans   
and the arrival of the Allied forces. This memorandum made reference, in   
conclusion, to the extreme want of food supplies to which the City of Rome   
will then be reduced, and asked that every effort be made to assure the   
prompt arrival of the most essential foodstuffs.
 
     
 
 
In another communication Just received from His Eminence the gravity   
of the food situation in Rome at that time is stressed very forcibly. His   
Eminence observes that with the passage of days, and in view of the   
methodical and continued requisition of foodstuffs and animals by the   
occupying forces, the city of Rome is exposed to dire want of even the   
necessaries of life, including milk for children. Because of this last point,   
the Cardinal Secretary suggests that it would be an act of great humanitarianism   
to provide supplies of powdered milk for immediate transportation to Rome at   
the moment of the Allied occupation. He also directs me to make known to the   
United States Government the deep concern of the Holy Father for his   
afflicted faithful of Rome, and his confidence that every effort will be   
exerted to meet the exigencies of the serious situation which threatens his   
Episcopal See.
 
 
 
Sincerely yours,
 
A. G. CICOGNANI
 
Archbishop of Laodicea 
 
Apostolic De legate
 
 
The Honorable
 
Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.,
 
Acting Secretary of State,
 
Washington, D.C.