D. ENTRY AND RESIDENCE PRIVILEGES OF AMERICAN AND SOVIET CLERGYMEN

33. STATEMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, MARCH 2, 1955 1

1

The American Embassy at Moscow has been advised by the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Soviet Government is expelling the Rev. Georges Bissonnette, an American Roman Catholic priest resident in Moscow. Father Bissonnette has been told by the Soviet authorities that he must depart from the Soviet Union by March 5. No reason for Father Bissonnette's expulsion has to date been made known by the Soviet Government to Father Bissonnette or to the American Embassy.

The U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union on March 1 protested vigorously to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Soviet action against Father Bissonnette as a violation of those portions of the Litvinov Agreement 2 (the exchange of notes of November 16, 1933, between President Roosevelt and Maxim Litvinov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, whereby diplomatic relations were established between the United States and the Soviet Union) pertaining to freedom of conscience and religious worship of nationals of the United States on the territory of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Government, however, thus far has refused to reconsider its position regarding Father Bissonnette's ouster.

Pertinent portions of the Litvinov Agreement are attached hereto.3 Father Bissonnette, who was born on July 22, 1921, at Central Falls, R. I., has been in Moscow since January 25, 1953, under the auspices of the Order of Assumptionists, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical organization with headquarters at Worcester, Mass. Father Bissonnette has no official connection with the American Embassy but has served at Moscow under the provisions of the Litvinov Agreement to administer to the spiritual needs of American Roman Catholics in that city.

The Department has been informed by the Order of Assumptionists that plans had already been made, before the recent Soviet action. against Father Bissonnette, to send Father Louis F. Dion to Moscow this spring as a replacement for Father Bissonnette. The Order of Assumptionists intends to make application in the near future to the Soviet Embassy for a Soviet entry visa for Father Dion in order that he may proceed to Moscow to continue the work which was being performed by Father Bissonnette.

As stated above, Father Bissonnette's presence in Moscow was under the terms of the Litvinov Agreement and was in no way related

Department of State Bulletin, Mar. 14, 1955, p. 424.

Foreign Relations of the United States: The Soviet Union, 1933-1939, pp. 27-37. 'Not reprinted here.

to cases of temporary visits to the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by ecclesiastical figures of the respective countries which have occurred from time to time in the past.

34. NOTE FROM THE AMERICAN EMBASSY AT MOSCOW TO THE SOVIET FOREIGN MINISTRY, JUNE 27, 19551

The Embassy of the United States of America presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and has the honor to refer to the Ministry's note No. 20/OSA of March 8, 1955 2 in connection with the expulsion from the Soviet Union of Father Bissonnette, an American priest residing in Moscow under the terms of the exchange of notes of November 16, 1933 between President Roosevelt and Mr. Litvinov relating to freedom of religion for American nationals residing in the Soviet Union. The Ministry's note under reference, which makes clear that the action taken against Father Bissonnette was in retaliation for the refusal of the United States Government to extend the visa issued to Archbishop Boris of the Russian Orthodox Church, contends that in the agreement of November 16, 1933 both countries bound themselves to "extend on the territory of their countries to citizens of the other party the right to satisfaction of their spiritual needs by priests, pastors, rabbis, or other ecclesiastical functionaries who are citizens of the other party".

It will be recalled that the exchange of notes in 1933 was initiated by a note from President Roosevelt, the final paragraph of which reads as follows:

We will expect that religious groups or congregations composed of nationals of the United States of America in the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will be given the right to have their spiritual needs ministered to by clergymen, priests, rabbis or other ecclesiastical functionaries who are nationals of the United States of America, and that such clergymen, priests, rabbis or other ecclesiastical functionaries will be protected from all disability or persecution and will not be denied entry into the territory of the Soviet Union because of their ecclesiastical status.3

This is the only paragraph of the note which deals with the question of the right of clergymen to enter the Soviet Union to minister to the religious needs of American nationals. The final paragraph of the Soviet reply of the same date reads as follows:

Finally, I have the honor to inform you that the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, while reserving to itself the right of refusing visas to Americans desiring to enter the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on personal grounds, does not intend to base such refusals on the fact of such persons having an ecclesiastical status."

1 Department of State Bulletin, July 18, 1955, pp. 102–103. 2 Ibid., pp. 103-104.

3 President Roosevelt to the Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Nov. 16, 1933; Foreign Relations of the United States: The Soviet Union, 1933–1939, p. 30. The Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs to President Roosevelt, Nov. 16, 1933; ibid., p. 33.

It is apparent that, when considered together, these two notes can only mean that American clergymen will be permitted to enter the Soviet Union to minister to the needs of American nationals resident there, although it is recognized that the Soviet Government reserved the right to refuse a visa on "personal grounds". The meaning of this reservation would appear to be that a visa would be refused if an individual applicant were objectionable on some ground other than his being a clergyman.

The reservation made by the Soviet Union is not applicable in the present instance, since Father Bissonnette was not expelled because of objection to him personally but simply in retaliation for action taken by the United States Government in connection with Archbishop Boris.

There is no condition of reciprocity contained in the Soviet note of November 16, 1933, and the proposal in the United States note of that date was confined to rights for American clergymen. That no reciprocity was provided for in these particular notes appears to have arisen from the fact that the Soviet Government gave no indication at that time of being concerned with the problem of sending Soviet clergymen abroad. Furthermore, the fact that the notes contained no provision for reciprocity cannot be regarded as accidental, since another exchange of notes between President Roosevelt and Mr. Litvinov on the same date relating to noninterference in political matters contains a provision for reciprocal adherence to the engagements undertaken.

It is therefore the view of the United States Government that there is no basis for the claim of the Soviet Government that the United States is bound by the terms of the November 16, 1933 agreement to admit clergymen from the Soviet Union to minister to the religious needs of Soviet nationals in the United States.

On the other hand, the United States Government regards the action of the Soviet Government in expelling Father Bissonnette as a violation of the terms of the 1933 agreement. This violation is

all the more clear in that the expulsion of Father Bissonnette from the Soviet Union was undertaken, not because of objection to Father Bissonnette on personal grounds, but solely in retaliation for the refusal of the United States Government to permit the extension of stay in the United States of the Soviet Archbishop Boris, whose status in the United States was not comparable to that of Father Bissonnette in the Soviet Union. Archbishop Boris was admitted into the United States on a temporary visa to deal with matters pertaining to that faction of the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States which is administratively subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate. In this capacity, Archbishop Boris was in contact with American citizens who are members of the Russian Orthodox Church and had the possibility of holding religious services in many different churches in a number of American cities which he visited during his stay in the United States. In contrast to Archbishop Boris' status, Father Bissonnette resided in Moscow under the terms of a formal agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. He served the

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spiritual needs of Americans in Moscow and had no contact with Soviet citizens of the Roman Catholic faith. Due to action of the Soviet Government, Father Bissonnette was unable to hold services in the Roman Catholic church in Moscow and was forced to use his small apartment for this purpose.

The United States Government considers as irrelevant to the matter at issue the question raised in the Ministry's note of March 8, 1955 with respect to the practice of the Moscow Patriarchate in designating heads of the Russian Orthodox Church in America. It may be noted, however, that no interference by the United States Government has ever been interposed to the appointment by the Moscow Patriarchate of officials of that segment of the Russian Orthodox Church in America which recognizes the right of the Moscow Patriarchate to make appointments of this kind. When such officials. are not United States citizens, the conditions of their entry into the United States are necessarily determined in the context of pertinent United States immigration laws and regulations. As is evident from the action of the United States Government in permitting visits to the United States of Soviet clergymen, including most recently the late Archbishop Germogen and Archbishop Boris, the United States Government has not objected in principle to temporary visits to the United States of Soviet ecclesiastics for the purpose of conducting legitimate church affairs.

In reiterating its protest against the expulsion of Father Bissonnette the United States Government requests that favorable action be taken with regard to issuance of a Soviet entry visa to Father Louis Dion, who has been designated by the Assumptionist Order to succeed Father Bissonnette and who made application for a Soviet visa at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D. C. on March 23, 1955. If the Soviet Government now considers it desirable that Soviet clergymen be admitted to the United States in order to minister to the religious needs of Soviet nationals, the United States Government is prepared in the interest of reciprocity to extend to a Soviet clergyman the same possibilities of entry and religious activity as those accorded to American clergymen in the Soviet Union under the terms of the November 16, 1933 agreement.

35. STATEMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
NOVEMBER 15, 19551

The Department of State on June 28, 1955, released the text of a note delivered June 27, 1955, by the American Embassy at Moscow to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs protesting the expulsion from the U. S. S. R. of the Reverend Georges Bissonnette, a member of the Assumptionist Order. This note refuted the Soviet Government's claim that our refusal to extend indefinitely the U. S. visa

1 Department of State Bulletin, Nov. 28, 1955, p. 888.

2 Supra.

issued to Soviet Archbishop Boris constituted a violation of the terms of the November 16, 1933, Roosevelt-Litvinov agreement, which established diplomatic relations between the two countries and which provides for the presence of American clergymen in the Soviet Union to minister to the spiritual needs of American nationals. Nevertheless, the United States Government in this note stated:

If the Soviet Government now considers it desirable that Soviet clergymen be admitted to the United States in order to minister to the religious needs of Soviet nationals, the United States Government is prepared in the interest of reciprocity to extend to a Soviet clergyman the same possibilities of entry and religious activity as those accorded to American clergymen in the Soviet Union under the terms of the November 16, 1933 agreement.

The Embassy's note of June 27, 1955, pointed out the sharp contrast between the functions of an American priest ministering to American Catholics in the U. S. S. R. and the functions of a Soviet archbishop heading an American church organization in the United States, and requested that Father Bissonnette's appointed successor, Father Louis Dion, be granted the Soviet visa for which he had applied on March 23, 1955.

No direct reply was made by the Soviet Government to our note of June 27, 1955, and its voluntary offer of reciprocity permitting a Soviet clergyman to attend to the religious needs of Soviet nationals in the United States. On September 8, 1955, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested our Embassy to issue unlimited visas to Archbishop Boris and his secretary, and Father Dion was advised by the Soviet Embassy in Washington that it was prepared to issue him a Soviet visa. A request by our Embassy on September 14, 1955, to be informed if by its action of September 8 the Soviet Government was accepting the basis set forth in our June 27 note relative to the permissible activity of a Soviet clergyman in the United States elicited no Soviet response.

In the absence of such response and following Father Dion's acceptance of a Soviet visa, the American Embassy in Moscow was instructed to issue U. S. visas to the Archbishop and his secretary, emphasizing at that time that these visas were being issued on the understanding that the Archbishop's functions in the United States would not exceed those permitted Father Dion in Moscow. action was undertaken November 4, 1955.1

This

From the text of a Soviet response of November 10, 1955, it is apparent that the Soviet Government continues to insist that the admission of Father Dion to tend the spiritual needs of a few American Catholics in Moscow requires the admission of Archbishop Boris into the United States for an indefinite period to head an American church. organization. Inasmuch as the Soviet Government indicated in its note of November 10 that Archbishop Boris would fulfill this broad and unacceptable function, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs was requested by the American Embassy at Moscow on November 12, 1955, to return the passports of the Archbishop and his secretary

1 Department of State Bulletin, Nov. 14, 1955, pp. 784-785.

2 Not printed.