MR. HARRY TRUMAN, former President of the United States, writing in the Daily Express about his audience of the Holy Father last week, says: " Our visit to the Vatican was a most satisfactory onc. I had a wonderful interview with His Holiness Pope Pius XII, discussing the necessary approaches to the peace of the world along the lines on which we had previously corresponded.
"The talk was principally confined to efforts for preserving the peace of the world.
" I had had considerable correspondence with him on this subject dating back to the days when Myron Taylor was the personal representative of the President at the Vatican. The Pope's replies to my letters are, of course, confidential.
" No, we did not discuss nuclear weapons at this meeting, as I understand some newspaper has reported, for the simple reason that he is a man of peace and he did not bring up the subject. Neither did I.
" He is not interested in weapons of war and is only interested in the peace of the world."
During his stay in Rome, Mr. Truman said he had always favoured the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the United States.
During his Presidency Mr. Truman nominated General Mark Clark—a non-Catholic. but a frequent visitor to the Pope when he was commanding American troops in Italy during the war—as Ambassador to the Holy See. The nomination was withdrawn in face of widespread opposition.