T HE relation of our organized religion to the state is governed by the principle of separation of church and state embodied in the Constitution of the United States and in those of its forty-eight constituent units. This principle is generally understood to mean that there is to be no compulsion of the religious or antireligious conscience, no granting of privilege to any church, no subsidy of religious activities by the state. The concrete meaning of these hitherto accepted prohibitions has recently been placed on our political agenda by two developments: the mission of Myron Taylor to the Vatican and the appropriation of public funds for services to parochial schools. Myron Taylor was sent to the Vatican during the war by President Roosevelt as his personal representative. This relationship, which avoided the necessity of confirmation by the Senate, carried with it the rank of ambassador, and Mr. Taylor was promptly given that status at the Vatican Court. In support of this appointment, continued by President Truman, two reasons are officially given: to co-ordinate the influence of the Pope with our efforts to secure a just and durable peace, and to get the benefit of the Intelligence Service of the Vatican State, described as the best in the world. The largest Protestant bodiesMethodist, Baptist, Presbyterian-and a number of others have protested the appointment and requested its termination on the ground that a government whose relations with organized religion are based on the principle of separation of church and state cannot recognize and have relations with a church state without encroaching upon that principle. A delegation of Protestant leaders, whom President Truman received on this issue, understood him to promise that our mission to the Vatican would cease with the ending of the war. While that date has passed on our own legal calendar it will not be reached insofar as our international relations are concerned until the signing of the peace treaties. If the pledge is not then kept, the matter will become a major political issue in the Protestant churches.