As in a Sleep

On the eve of the fall of Rome, Pope Pius XII spoke to the College of Cardinals on a matter close to his heart. Clothing his thought in undulant papal prose, he begged the Allies to reconsider their stated war aim: unconditional surrender. Said he, in part:

"Day and night, our thoughts are bent on one sole purpose: how we may be able to meet this bitter trial, helping all without distinction of nationality or race, and how we may help toward restoring peace at last to tortured mankind. . . .

"[There is] the impression or the fear that there may not be, even for the peoples and nations as such, any alternative but this: a complete victory or complete destruction. When once this sharp dilemma has entered men's minds, its baneful influence is a stimulant toward prolonging the war. . . . Those who are under the domination of such feelings go on, as in a hypnotic sleep, through abysses of unspeakable sacrifice and constrain others to a war of extermination that drains their life blood. . . . This fear should give way to a well-founded expectation of honorable solutions; solutions that are not ephemeral or carry the germs of fresh turmoil and dangers to peace, but are true and durable. . . .

". . . Wise, and hence moderate, political skill never forgets or fails to give the losing side the hope--we should like to say confidence--that even to its people and their vital necessities a worthy place be prepared and juridically assigned."

To support his point, the Pope turned to "the most distinguished orator of ancient Rome," and quoted Cicero:

" 'To conquer oneself, to curb anger, to spare the vanquished, to raise the fallen enemy--a man who does this I shall not compare with the greatest of men, but will deem as most like to a god.' "

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