CHAPTER XXVII
ROME, THE ETERNAL CITY—A VISIT TO THE CATHOLICS IN ANGORA
There is so often compensation for disappointment.
Had I been able to reach Angora through Constantinople,
had I not been held up six weeks by strikes on
sea, I should have missed the chance of another visit
to Rome—above all, of having an audience with Pope
Pius XI.
His Holiness could not know, for I did not myself then imagine, the precious gift he thus entrusted to me for his children in Anatolia. He certainly would not feel the time wasted, could I convey to him the heartfelt joy and reverence with which they listened for my answers to their eager questions. "What is he like, our Holy Father? Is it true that he always prays for us?"
No one could fail, indeed, to have been impressed by the deep sincerity with which the Pope takes man's sorrows to heart; the great anxiety that overwhelms him, not only for his own flock but for all humanity; and his great desire for peace.
Towards Turkey, I believe the Christian world will follow the lead of Great Britain; as in their attitude towards the Christian Powers, Islam will follow the lead of Turkey. Now that Mustapha Kemal Pasha has raised Turkey again to be the true head of Islam, should not our whole policy in the East rest on her friendship?
As in politics, so in religion. Dare we listen to the appeal of American Nonconformity for a "Holy War" against Islam; dare we follow the Anglican into
