AMERICAN ENVOY VISITS THE POPE

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 April 1948, Page 5

AMERICAN ENVOY VISITS THE POPE

LONDON, April 6. Mr Myron Taylor, President Truman’s personal representative to the Vatican, had an audience of the Pope last night. Officially, his visit is said to have had no special significance, but the Rome correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says it is believed that he had been charged to sound the Pope on the possibility of the restoration of the Spanish monarchy. Mr Taylor spent some time in Madrid on the way to Rome, and according to the correspondent it is thought that he had been asked to report to President Truman on the circumstances in which General Franco 'might be induced to withdraw from his position as head of the State to facilitate Spain’s re-entry into the comity of Western nations. The Pope’s advice, the correspondent comments, would carry great weight with General Franco and with Don Juan, the claimant to the Spanish Throne, but while his Holiness would welcome the return of the monarchy, it is considered unlikely that he would lend his moral support to any move to oust General Franco against his will. Mr Taylor will stay in Rome for two or three months.