Dear Joe,

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I am giving a lunch on Saturday for the Nuncio. You will be interested to hear that Maginnis is to come; he is a friend of Monsignore Robinson's, and explained to him that he had meant to leave a card but had quite forgotten! Of course I asked him in the circumstances, and he is going to call in due course. As Monsignore Hagan wrote me before that his health had not allowed him to go out for years past and would not for an equal time to come, I have not asked him. I had a long talk with the Nuncio this morning. His great concern is that, now that he has been appointed, the Bishops should be conciliated as much as possible, especially Dublin, who sent him a very nice wire. He asked me to make sure that, when preparations are being made for his reception, they should be asked (or at any rate the Archbishop) to take part and he is clearly nervous about the possibility of a hostile reception in ecclesiastical circles. I told him that the Government would certainly in any event do everything to secure for the Episcopate their proper place, and mentioned that they had communicated the news of his appointment to the Archbishop. I would be glad of any sort of formal assurance to give him.

I mentioned to him the Under-Secretary's Lodge which he accepted with pleasure subject, of course, to formal acceptance by the Secretariat of State. I will offer it formally to Monsignore Pizzardo on Friday; Cardinal Gasparri is ill, and there is even talk of his retiring. When it has been formally accepted, as of course it will be, I would be glad of particulars of the number of rooms, amount of furniture, cooking utensils, etc., as the Nuncio feels a certain amount of difficulty about making arrangements. The Uditore is appointed by the Vatican; Monsignore Robinson does not know who he will be. His secretary is not yet appointed. He will probably take over some Franciscan tertiaries (Germans) who do cooking, etc., and get Irish men if possible to do the visible service.

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There is talk about appointing an Apostolic Delegate to Northern Ireland, on the ground that it would be anomalous that, e.g., Drogheda should be subject directly to the Holy See while Armagh was not. Two suggestions have been made:- (A) that the Nuncio to the Free State should also be A.D. to the dioceses in Northern Ireland; (B) that some other person, perhaps Cardinal MacRory, should be A.D. to Northern Ireland. Neither suggestion is entirely satisfactory, while on the other hand they seem rather inclined to make some appointment to avoid the anomaly mentioned. It is not of course a matter on which I could speak without being asked by Pizzardo for the view of the Government, as it is not within the Free State. If, however, he should mention the subject to me, I should like to know the attitude of the Government. My personal view is that, if there is to be an A.D., it should be the Nuncio; it might be said that he was appointed A.D. pending the time of union with the North, when he would be Nuncio for the whole country. On the other hand, the appointment of someone else as A.D. would rather accentuate partition. However, the Government may take another view, and I would like to know what to say in case the question comes up. The Nuncio has no knowledge of their intentions.