The possibility of an eventual evacuation of the city of Rome by the German   
forces of occupation gives rise to serious concern regarding the period in   
which, while awaiting the arrival of the Allied forces, the city will remain   
exposed to danger from uncontrollable forces operating from within.
 
     
 
 
The authorities directing the.occupation of the city have already   
suppressed the "Carabinieri", or national police, and the scant police   
protection thus remaining would hardly be sufficient to control numerous   
turbulent elements which would then assert themselves. Particular misgivings   
are engendered because of the possibility of uprisings staged by the   
Communists. From reliable sources it has been learned that the Communists   
are plentifully supplied with arms and might embark upon a program which   
would result in wholesale robbery and the complete sacking of the city. Such   
an eventuality would inevitably expose to danger, among others, the numerous   
religious houses of practically all nationalities located in the Eternal   
City, and would hardly exclude the possibility of an attack upon Vatican   
City itself.
 
     
 
 
These considerations show the need of making preparations well in   
advance, in order to shorten as much as possible the period which will   
elapse between the departure of the Germans and the arrival of the Allies.
 
     
 
 
Another source of preoccupation is the extreme want of food supplies   
to which Rome will then be reduced. In his paternal concern for the welfare   
of the people of Rome, his Episcopal See, the Holy Father asks, in the   
interests of human and Christian charity, that every effort be exerted to   
assure the prompt arrival of the most essential foodstuffs.
 
 
 
0ctober 12, 1943