Clark's Vatican Appointment 'Unnecessary,' Says Mather

Congress will recognize that the Roman Catholic Church is a political as well as spiritual power if it approves the President's nomination of General Mark Clark as ambassador to the Vatican, Dr. Kirtley F. Mather, professor of Geology, said yesterday. He said that the appointment is "unnecessary."

If that realistic position is taken, he continued, it is logical that Roman Catholic officials in this country would have to register as agents of a foreign power.

Elaborating on a speech he made Sunday at the Community Church of Boston, Mather stated that all the desirable objectives in dispatching an ambassador could be secured by sending a personal representative.

"Neither way could there be any advantage in the fight against Communism," Mather said. "I think the position of this country is pretty well known."

Mather did not accuse the President of playing politics. "I'm inclined to think," he said, "that Truman thought it was the best thing to do."

Terming Truman's position "unfortunate," Mather concluded that the President has selected one religious sect in preference to all others, since no other church has been recognized with an ambassador.

Mather also questioned the loss of freedom in this country. He said that the numerous restrictions that have been placed on our freedom in the cause of national security have caused an intellectual conflict. "I question that conflict," he stated, "and what seems to be the way to resolve it."

He added that we are in danger of imitating the totalitarian systems in imposing thought control upon our citizens.