Religion: Papal Prisoners' Post

Father O'Toole climbed the tenement steps and knocked. "Mrs. Samkolsky?" he asked. The woman nodded. "I have a message here about your son, Benjamin. He is a prisoner of war in Italy." The door was flung wide. "Oh," gasped Mrs. Samkolsky taking the envelope, "we thought he was dead. Oh, thank God! Yetta! Yetta! Come here! Benny is safe!"

Up and down the U.S. last week, in large cities and small towns, many a Roman Catholic priest mailed or took similar tidings to anxious families of men missing in action. Sample message: "The Apostolic...