PLEA FOR WORLD PEACE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20610, 26 December 1936, Page 11

PLEA FOR WORLD PEACE

THEME OF BROADCAST BY POPE RESPONSE BY AMERICAN REPUBLICANS United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received December 25, 6.30 p.m.) VATICAN CITY, December 24 The Pope, broadcasting from his bedside, deplored the many great evils which had fallen like a scourge on humanity, civil society and the Church, which against the will of God, had to contend with malevolence and many misguided enemies. His Holiness then referred to the civil war in Spain, where evil forces wished to make a supreme experiment with all the destructive forces scattered throughout the world, which they had at their command. He added: “Not a few of those pretending to defend our order against subversiveness, atheism and communism, allow themselves to be dominated by false and fatal ideas in the choice of remedies. Whosoever seeks to lessen faith in Christ and portray Christ’s Church as the enemy of national prosperity, does not build a country’s future, but destroys the most effective and decisive defence against the evils he claims to fight, and is actually working with and not against those he boasts of attacking.” The Pope then paid a tribute to the sufferings of his loyal and devoted servants and asked for the maintenance of peace where it reigns and its reestablishment where it is merely a memory. The Pope sat up in bed for the broadcast and his physician anxiously watched him throughout, and before he was half-way through it was feared that he would be unable to finish. His Holiness pronounced certain words with the greatest difficulty, his voice breaking into sobs as he finished. He was completely exhausted at the close, and fell into a deep sleep.

PEACE IN SOUTH AMERICA TWENTY-ONE REPUBLICS IN AGREEMENT United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received December 25, 6.30 p.m.) BUENOS AIRES, December 24 The Inter-American Conference for the maintenance of peace ended a three weeks’ session with the Foreign Ministers of Paraguay and Bolivia pledging their countries to settle the Chaco dispute by pacific means. An assistant read the speech by Mr Cordell Hull (American Secretary of State) who is suffering from a cold, in which he praised the treaties in which twenty-one American republics have agreed to consult together for common defence in the event of a threat of war within or without, and the attempt to find a common neutrality course in the event of war anywhere In the world. , “We must destroy war," added Mr Hull, “or war will destroy us.” He challenged the rest of the world tg follow this example in charting tufe course of peace.