The Diplomatic Week

Some of the events which made news last week in the world's diplomatic offices:

Three Asterisks. The Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, rebutted Pravda's criticism of Pope Pius XII's Christmas statement of Vatican policy (TIME, Jan. 8). The rebuttal itself was not notable, but its tone was: it departed from L'Osservatore's custom by referring to Marshal Stalin by name and title in an editorial. It called Russia a "great country," and drew a friendly parallel between the Pope's and Stalin's ways of dealing with some matters. The editorial concluded with three asterisks, the signature of L'Osservatore's papally inspired editor, Count Giuseppe Dalla Torre.

Waning Suspicion? After months of pulling & hauling, Yugoslavia's Communist Marshal Josip (Tito) Broz agreed to let some 80 UNRRA officials supervise distribution of UNRRA food, medicines, etc. in Partisan Yugoslavia. The negotiations were between UNRRA and Tito spokesmen, but everyone concerned (including UNRRA's men waiting in Bari, Italy for permission to cross the Adriatic) knew that the question was a test of Soviet intentions at the working level.

War Crimes. Herbert Claiborne Pell lost his job as U.S. member of the United Nations War Crimes Commission. Alleged reason: no money had been appropriated for his work. He also suspected another reason: the State Department did not back his view that Hitler & Co. could legally be tried for crimes committed against their own people (including Jews). The State Department denied this charge, but the fate of the Commission, was in doubt because Sir Cecil Hurst, British Commissioner, had already resigned after a similar disagreement with his Government.

Congratulations. Former Assistant Secretary of State Adolf A. Berle Jr. got a great welcome when he arrived in Brazil, as new U.S. Ambassador. Reason: the Brazilians congratulated themselves because he was the first noncareer U.S. diplomat who had been sent to them. To them it meant that the job of Ambassador to Brazil was now considered a political reward.

Fur Smoothed. The Italian Cabinet allowed that it would accept as an apology an explanation that: 1) Prime Minister Winston Churchill had not been fully quoted when he made the condescending remark in his recent speech to the House of Commons that "we need Italy no more than we need Spain"; 2) he was merely answering the suggestion that Britain was embarking on a system of power politics in the Mediterranean.

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