REPLY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE COMMUNICATION OF THE POPE TO THE
BELLIGERENT GOVERNMENTS
(_August 27, 1917_)
To His Holiness Benedictus XV., Pope.
In acknowledgment of the communication of Your Holiness to the
belligerent peoples, dated August 1, 1917, the President of the
United States requests me to transmit the following reply:
Every heart that has not been blinded and hardened by this terrible
war must be touched by this moving appeal of His Holiness, the Pope,
must feel the dignity and force of the humane and generous motives
which prompted it, and must fervently wish that we might take the
path of peace he so persuasively points out. But it would be folly to
take it if it does not, in fact, lead to the goal he proposes. Our
response must be based upon the stern facts and upon nothing else. It
is not a mere cessation of arms he desires; it is a stable and
enduring peace. This agony must not be gone through with again, and
it must be a matter of very sober judgment what will insure us
against it.