684A.85/9–1153
No. 662
Memorandum of Conversation, by the
Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs (Murphy)
Subject:
- Jerusalem Situation
Participants:
- The Most Reverend Amlito Giovanni Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate in Washington.
- Mr. Robert Murphy, Assistant Secretary for United Nations Affairs.
Agreeable to the understanding with the Secretary and Mr. Byroade, I discussed today with the Apostolic Delegate in Washington, The Most Reverend Amlito Giovanni Cicognani, the prevailing situation in Jerusalem. I explained our point of view regarding a possible solution of the Jerusalem problem, avoiding a specific reference to the Swedish proposal,1 and inquired whether there had been any recent change of view on the part of the Vatican regarding the corpus separatum idea. The Most Reverend Cicognani replied in the negative and said that the question, as far as he knew, had been quiescent for some time. It is a matter, he said, which he believes the Pope personally handles. He expressed the personal opinion that our present idea is certainly worth exploring and might appeal to the Vatican. He promised to communicate it immediately in the hope of eliciting a reaction in the near future. He stated the opinion that the present situation with the Jordanians and Israelis glaring at each other across the barbed wire barrier is obviously most unsatisfactory and that if some progress along the lines of our [Page 1309] present idea could be made, it might start a movement of general conciliation which would be attractive to the Vatican. He promised to comunicate with me as soon as he has obtained the Vatican’s reaction.
- Reference is the Swedish draft resolution submitted to the Ad Hoc Political Committee of the U.N. General Assembly in December 1950. (U.N. doc. A/AC.38/L.63)↩