Constantinople, 26 September 1915.
Confidential.
Mr. Foreign Minister,
In my reports No. LXX [70] and No. LXXXIII [83] of 3 Juli and 26 Juli this year I have mentioned the conflict that exists between the Porte and the Holy See.
After I sent the last-mentioned report the Spanish ambassador [Marquis Julian del Arroyo] succeeded in establishing a Treuga Dei [Truce of God; truce], and both sides let the case rest for quite a long period of time.
However, the xenophobic measures that the present government continues to take gets into conflict with the interests of the Holy See in Turkey in a new way, and the position of the Papal Delegate [Angelo Maria Dolci] here becomes increasingly difficult.
The regular clergy of all nations - belligerent as well as neutral - who live in the monasteries, hospices, hospitals, etc., here, have actually now been expelled and have to leave the country before the firstcoming Wednesday.
It has been ordered that the activities and positions which they leave behind shall be replaced by Turks in order for those not to come to a standstill, and it is only with great difficulty that the Papal Delegate managed to get permission for one priest to stay behind in each church to officiate the most necessary services.
At the same time the authorities have taken possession of the monasteries, hospices, hospitals, etc., here, and have transferred the old people that the nuns had taken care of to a Turkish lunatic asylum where they are now lying helter skelter, 2 in each bed.
These precautions are to some extent caused by the necessity to remedy the lack that exists here of rooms that can be converted into hospitals for the many wounded who arrive here from the Dardanelles every day, but they must most likely first and foremost be seen as a new manifestation of the government's desire to cleanse Turkey from foreigners, either by expelling them or, when this is not possible, by making their lives here so uncomfortable that they prefer to leave the country voluntarily.
The authorities deals severely with the Catholic congregations here, and it is especially noteworthy that they no longer respect the sacraments in the churches, although they are not ignorant of their significance.
In several churches that the authorities have seized "manu militare," the soldiers have removed everything of value, and in the most coarse manner they have profaned the crucifixes, the pictures, the holy vessels, the elements of the Holy Communion, and the Oil, which they have thrown at impure places.
On this account the Papal Delegate sent a strong note to the Porte, in which he demanded access to collect church property at the places where they had been thrown away, and when he did not receive an answer he asked for the Spanish ambassador's help, who actually did succeed in getting the Foreign Ministry to give the required permission, but to no avail as it was not respected by the military authorities who refused to allow the priests access to the churches.
The sentries who were posted at the entrances of the churches, as well as their officers, declared that they had been ordered not to allow anyone access, and that the Foreign Ministry's order was not their concern.
When the cannons speak, the diplomats must be silent.
In other seized churches that are not occupied by the military, the priests have turned to the police prefect of Constantinople, Bedri Bey, to seek permission to collect the Host, but I am told that the prefect answered, in a way that is typical of his level of enlightenment and way of thinking, that he could not authorize that any bread was removed from the churches as there is a shortage of flour and an increasing shortage of bread.
"First and foremost the soldiers must get what they need," he said.
With the highest esteem I remain, Mr. Minister, yours faithfully
[Wandel]