CZECHOSLOVAKS IN AMERICA
the fact that they could, and did, bring their cause effectively to the attention of the Vatican, realizing its international importance. The National Alliance of Bohemian Catholics was the organization of the Czechs of that denomination, and while, for purposes of political activity, it formed a part of what the American public came to know as the Bohemian National Alliance of America, so that there could be no question as to the solidarity of the Czech movement, it yet lived an active life of its own. On November 18, 1917, this body addressed to the Holy Father a memorandum in Latin, eloquently worded, setting forth before the head of the Roman Catholic Church the plight of the Czechoslovaks, and asking for a sympathetic consideration of the Czechoslovak problem and for prayers for a revival of the ancient liberties of their nation. The receipt of the memorandum, forwarded by the Apostolic Delegate in Washington, was acknowledged through the same office by a letter dated February 21, 1918, in which the Apostolic Delegate, acting upon orders of the papal Secretary of State, assured the petitioners that the welfare of Bohemia was dear to the heart of the Holy Father, who accorded the Catholic Czechs of America his
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