Vatican II Behind the Iron Curtain

44 GERALD P. FOGARTY

To President and Mrs. Kennedy, he simply sent his wishes for the
holiday season. But to the pope, he wrote, “On the occasion of the
Holy Days of Christmas, please accept these greetings and con-
gratulations from a man who wishes you good health and strength
for your abiding quest for the peace and happiness of all man-
kind.”37 Back in Rome, Cousins personally handed the pope the
premier’s greetings. A few days later, John responded to Khrush-
chev’s note:

Thank you for your courteous message of good wishes. We return it

from the heart with the same words that came to us from on high:

Peace on earth to men of good will.

We bring to your attention two documents for Christmas for

this year invoking the strengthening of a just peace among people.

That the good God will hear us and respond to the zeal and

sincerity of our efforts and our prayers. May peace be made in your

strength, O Lord, and abundance in your towers.

Best wishes for the prosperity of the Russian people and of all

the people of the world. 38

Had it been made public at the time, this correspondence between
pope and Communist leader would probably have surprised a
world still engaged in the Cold War. It set in motion a series of
events that would not bear full fruit for almost thirty years.
In the meantime, both Italian and American diplomats were
negotiating Slipyj’s release. Cousins had made no reference to
Kennedy’s concern about the metropolitan, but, as he was leav-
ing Rome, Monsignor Igino Cardinale arrived with a Christ-
mas present for the president, a silver icon, which—said Loris
Capovilla, the pope’s secretary and now a cardinal—was “a sign
of gratitude” for the president’s cooperation in obtaining the re-

37. Ibid., 53–57; a facsimile of Khrushchev’s message to John XXIII with an Eng-
    lish translation is given opposite in Cousins, Improbable Triumvirate, 78. An Italian
    translation is given in Capovilla, Giovanni XXIII, 439.


38. John XXIII to Khrushchev, December 21, 1962, in Capovilla, Giovanni XXIII,
    438; italics in the original.