Carroll, Walter Sharp
CARROLL, WALTER SHARP
Papal diplomat; b. Pittsburgh, Pa., June 18, 1908; d. Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 1950. He received his B.A.(1930) from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, and his Ph.D. (1933) from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, before being ordained on Dec. 8, 1935. He subsequently attended the Universities of Tours, France, and of Florence, Italy, and obtained his S.T.L. (1936) from the Gregorian University and his J.C.D. (1939) from the Pontifical University of the Lateran in Rome. Following a brief assignment as curate at St. Basil's Church, Pittsburgh, in 1940, he served from 1944 to 1950 as attaché in the Vatican Secretariate of State and as U.S. military vicar delegate. In 1943–44 he was sent to North Africa to facilitate its communications with the Holy See and to assist war prisoners. He performed a similar mission in Austria and Germany during 1944–45. When Rome was captured by the Allies in June 1944, he improvised a Vatican press office and instituted press conferences to inform the world of Vatican events. He was also instrumental in arranging audiences with Pius XII for Americans in military service. After the war, he represented the Holy See at the 1947 meeting of the International Refugee Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. His wartime efforts were honored by his appointment as papal chamberlain (1943) and domestic prelate (1944).
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