Vatican City during World War II
Encyclopedia
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, under the leadership of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
. Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from 1943 and the Allies from 1944, Vatican City itself was not occupied.
Background
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
. It declared Vatican City a neutral country
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
in international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
, and required the pope to abstain even from mediation
Mediation
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
unless requested by all parties. In 1939, the city state was recognized by thirty-eight nations
Foreign relations of Pope Pius XII
Foreign relations of Pope Pius XII extended to most of Europe and a few states outside Europe. Pius XII was pope from 1939 to 1958, during World War II and the beginning of the Cold War.- Background :...
, with a diplomatic corp of thirteen full ambassadors and twenty-five ministers.
The prevailing view in the Vatican was that the treaty's clause prohibiting the pope from entering Italian politics prohibited the condemnation of Italian military aggression, visited on Albania
Italian invasion of Albania
The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini...
on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
1939.
Public statements
Despite intense behind the scenes actions, Pius XII was resolved not to issue any public pronouncement that took sides in the conflict; this first manifested itself in a refusal to explicitly condemn the German invasion of PolandInvasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
. Early on, Pius XII believed that the "rapid destruction of Poland meant the end of the war". The pope's first encyclical of the war Summi Pontificatus
Summi Pontificatus
Summi Pontificatus is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII published on October 20, 1939. The encyclical is subtitled "On the Unity of Human Society." It was the first major encyclical of Pius XII so was seen as setting "a tone" for his papacy. It critiques major errors at the time, such as ideologies...
, promulgated in October 1939, exemplified both "the hesitancy and the care" of the pontiff.
20 July plot
Joseph MüllerJoseph Müller (priest)
Joseph Müller was a German Catholic priest and critic of the Nazi regime.He was born in Salmünster in Hessen. He was the youngest of seven children of a teacher Damien and his wife Augusta. Two of his brothers also became Roman Catholic priets. After repeating a political joke, he was arrested and...
, German Catholic priest, contacted Ludwig Kaas
Ludwig Kaas
Ludwig Kaas was a German Roman Catholic priest and politician during the Weimar Republic.-Early career:Born in Trier, Kaas was ordained a priest in 1906 and studied history and Canon law in Trier and Rome. 1906 he completed a doctorate in theology and in 1909 he obtained a second doctorate in...
, hoping to use the pope as an intermediary to allow members of the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
to contact the British. Kaas put Müller in contact with Father Robert Leiber
Robert Leiber
Robert Leiber, S.J. , close advisor to Pope Pius XII, a Jesuit priest from Germany was Professor for Church History at the Gregorian University in Rome from 1930-1960...
, who personally asked the pope to relay the information about the German resistance to the British. After more than a day of "quiet reflection", Pius XII agreed to pass the information along to the British. However he refused to pass the information along to the French or even to his own Secretariat of State.
Pius XII met personally with British envoy, D'Arcy Osborne, telling him that he knew the names of the involved German generals but did not wish to share them. Pius XII insisted to Osborne that he was merely passing on a message and that "he did not wish in the slightest degree to endorse it or to recommend it". When Osborne pressed the pope on the vagueness of his message, Osborne reported that Pius XII replied "perhaps, after all, it was not worth proceeding with the matter and he would therefore ask me to return his communication to me as not having been made". The pope further declined Osborne's request to guarantee the good faith of the generals, or whether they could accomplish their goal. In a second meeting, Pius XII flashed a typed, four-page letter in German in front of Osborne, but declined to let him read it or have a copy.
Mediation attempts
Pre-war
As early as April 1939, Pius XII announced a plan for peace, hoping to mediate a negotiation between the major European powers on the brink of war. The first leader contacted was Benito MussoliniBenito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, via Pius XII's usual go-between, Jesuit Father Tacchi Venturi
Tacchi Venturi
Pietro Tacchi Venturi was a Jesuit priest and historian who served as the unofficial liaison between Benito Mussolini and popes Pius XI and Pius XII. He was also one of the architects of the 1929 Lateran Treaty, wherein Italy recognized the sovereignty of Vatican City, ending the "Roman Question"...
. With Mussolini's approval, the next day Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione contacted the nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
s in Paris (Valerio Valeri
Valerio Valeri
Valerio Valeri was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Religious in the Roman Curia from 1953 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.President Charles de Gaulle insisted that Valeri be removed...
), Warsaw (Filippo Cortesi
Filippo Cortesi
Filippo Cortesi was the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland from December 24, 1936 to February 1, 1947. Cortesi earlier served as nuncio to Paraguay in the interim. Cortesi was the only nuncio to Poland never to become a cardinal....
), and Berlin (Cesare Orsenigo
Cesare Orsenigo
Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo was Apostolic Nuncio to Germany from 1930 to 1945, during the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II...
) and the Apostolic Delegate in London (William Godfrey). The proposed Vatican meeting accomplished very little of substance: if there was any coherent position espoused by the Vatican among its various communications, it was that of appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
. In particular, the pope attempted to get Poland to accept the secession of the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
to Nazi Germany, a position Polish ambassador Kazimierz Papée
Kazimierz Papée
Dr. Kazimierz Papée was the ambassador from Poland to the Holy See from 1939 to 1958, during and after World War II...
(the former High Commissioner of Danzig) and the Polish government could not accept.
British historian Owen Chadwick
Owen Chadwick
William Owen Chadwick, OM, KBE, FBA, FRSE is a British professor, writer and prominent historian of Christianity. He was also a rugby union player.-Early life and education:Chadwick was born in Bromley in 1916...
draws four themes from the Vatican mediation attempts:
- a particular closeness to Mussolini, to the point of sending correspondence of his drafting, from the period May-August 1939
- British and Polish disinterest in Vatican proposals, which were suspected of being pro-Italian and pro-German, respectively
- major European powers viewed the pope as "no minor pawn upon their chessboard"
- and, above all, Pius XII wanted to ensure compromise between the Western powers to prevent Russian territorial gains
Mid-war
In late 1942, senior Italian officials first approach the Vatican with peace feelers. In the eyes of the Vatican, "the neutrality of the Vatican, achieved at such cost, was paying a dividend at last". When Mussolini sent his son-in-law, Count Ciano, as ambassador to the Vatican in 1943, the Germans and others speculated about the possibility of Ciano negotiating a separate peace. The British for their part doubted any such intentions and wanted nothing to do with Ciano.Military history
The closest thing the Vatican had to troops were the Swiss GuardSwiss Guard
Swiss Guards or Schweizergarde is the name given to the Swiss soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. They have had a high reputation for discipline, as well as loyalty to their employers...
, eponymously of Swiss national origin; the sympathies of the Swiss varied widely, and the Vatican prohibited them from talking about politics in December 1940.
Extraterritorial status
With the German occupation of Rome in 1943 after the fall of Mussolini came rumors of a plot to kidnap the popeAlleged plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII
Several authors have alleged a plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII by the Nazis when they occupied Rome during World War II. SS General Karl Wolff stated that he had been ordered on September 13, 1943 to kidnap the pope....
; modern scholars are still at odds over the authenticity of such allegations. The Vatican City itself was never occupied; in fact, the chief concern within the Vatican was the potential for lawlessness between the German and Allied occupation, not the potential for German occupation. Ultimately, there was no interval between the occupations, although there was a period of reduced policing.
Bombing of Rome
One of Pius XII's main diplomatic priorities was to prevent the bombing of Rome; so sensitive was the pontiff that he protested even the British air dropping of pamphlets over Rome, claiming that the few landing within the city-state violated the Vatican's neutrality. Before the American entry into the war, there was little impetus for such a bombing, as the British saw little strategic value in it. After the American entry, the US opposed such a bombing, fearful of offending Catholic members of its military forces, while the British then supported it. Pius XII similarly advocated for the declaration of Rome as an "open cityOpen city
In war, in the event of the imminent capture of a city, the government/military structure of the nation that controls the city will sometimes declare it an open city, thus announcing that they have abandoned all defensive efforts....
", but this occurred only on August 14, 1943, after Rome had already been bombed twice. Although the Italians consulted the Vatican on the wording of the open city declaration, the impetus for the change had little to do with the Vatican.
Prisoners of war
After the Italian surrender, Allied prisoners guarded by Italians were released, and many headed for Vatican City. The Vatican feared such an event would compromise its neutrality and gave strict instructions to the Swiss GuardSwiss Guard
Swiss Guards or Schweizergarde is the name given to the Swiss soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. They have had a high reputation for discipline, as well as loyalty to their employers...
to prevent any such person from entering the city state; a system of identity cards was instituted to prevent non-Vatican personnel from entering St. Peter's. Some Vatican officials, however, did act independently to assist such persons; the most famous example is Hugh O'Flaherty
Hugh O'Flaherty
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, CBE was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and senior official of the Roman Curia. During World War II, he was responsible for saving 6,500 Allied soldiers and Jews...
, whose exploits were made famous in the film The Scarlet and the Black
The Scarlet and the Black
The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 made for TV movie starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer. This production should not be confused with the 1993 British television mini series Scarlet and Black, which starred Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz....
.
Financial activity
Osservatore Romano
The Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's newspaper, published in Italian, was the only newspaper in Italy not censored by the Italian government. Despite its relatively moderate content, the paper was lionized by the British and French press and vilified by the Italian Fascist press. By May 20, 1940, the paper ceased publishing any articles about the war not authored by the "official Italian war communique" per an agreement with the Italian government. By August 1940 its weather reports were also eliminated when the Italian government protested that they might aid British aircraft.Vatican Radio
The Vatican RadioVatican Radio
Vatican Radio is the official broadcasting service of the Vatican.Set up in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave , medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. The Jesuit Order has been charged with the management of Vatican...
was in a similar situation; for example, it ceased news about prisoners-of-war, which the Italian government worried would hint at the location of ships. It also ceased reporting on the weather, for the same reason. After Cardinal August Hlond issued a fiery, Polish-language message to Poland over the radio (which could scarcely be picked up in Poland), "nothing like this broadcast was ever allowed to happen again". After German complaints, the radio ceased any discussion of the situation in Poland, and later ceased discussing the situation of the church in Germany. Pius XII personally spoke over the radio on several occasions, most notably during his 1942 Christmas address
Pope Pius XII's 1942 Christmas address
Pope Pius XII's 1942 Christmas address was an annual speech delivered by Pope Pius XII over Vatican Radio on Christmas 1942.-Background:Pius XII possessed a specific knowledge of the Holocaust that rivaled that of the Allied governments...
.
Church organization
Occupying powers often requested that Pius XII reorganize conquered Catholic dioceses. Although such reorganization was generally refused, the decision of Pius XII to appoint German apostolic administrators to occupied Poland was "one of his most controversial decisions". These actions were the primary justification of the Polish Provisional Government for declaring the Concordat of 1925
Concordat of 1925
The 1925 concordat between the Holy See and the Second Polish Republic had 27 articles, which guaranteed the freedom of the Church and the faithful...
null and void in 1945, an act that had tremendous consequences for post-war Polish-Vatican relations. There was no Apostolic Nuncio to Poland
Apostolic Nuncio to Poland
The Apostolic Nuncio to Poland is one of the oldest nuncios, appointed by the Pope as apostolic representative to the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. Three nuncios to Poland went on to be elected pope...
between 1947 and 1989.
Immediate postwar aftermath
The Allies entered Rome on June 4–5, 1944. The pope was the greatest celebrity on the Italian peninsula during this period, and—given the tarnishment of the King of Italy with fascism—there was even talk of extending the temporal power of the papacy. The pope granted audiences with Allied soldiers and leaders, which were prominently photographed.Pius XII had refrained from creating cardinals
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
during the war. By the end of World War II there were several prominent vacancies: Cardinal Secretary of State
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
, Camerlengo, Chancellor, and Prefect for the Congregation for the Religious
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for everything which concerns institutes of consecrated life and Society of Apostolic Life regarding their government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and...
among them. Pius XII created 32 cardinals in early 1946
Cardinals created by Pope Pius XII in 1946
In his Christmas Message 1945, Pope Pius XII announced his intention, to make the College of Cardinals a living picture of the universality of the Church. Included here are cardinals created by Pope Pius XII in the consistory of February 18, 1946....
, having announced his intentions to do so in his preceding Christmas message.
Sources
- Alvarez, David J., and Graham, Robert A.Robert A. GrahamFather Robert Andrew Graham, SJ was an American Jesuit priest and World War II historian of the Catholic Church...
1997. Nothing sacred: Nazi espionage against the Vatican, 1939-1945 - Blet, Pierre, and Johnson, Lawrence J. 1999. Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican. Paulist Press. ISBN 0809105039
- Chadwick, OwenOwen ChadwickWilliam Owen Chadwick, OM, KBE, FBA, FRSE is a British professor, writer and prominent historian of Christianity. He was also a rugby union player.-Early life and education:Chadwick was born in Bromley in 1916...
. 1988. Britain and the Vatican During the Second World War. Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world... - Kent, Peter. 2002. The Lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII: The Roman Catholic Church and the Division of Europe, 1943–1950. Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2326-X
- Morley, John. 1980. Vatican diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. New York : KTAV Pub. House. ISBN 0870687018
- Phayer, MichaelMichael PhayerMichael Phayer, born 1935, is a historian and professor emeritus at Marquette University in Milwaukee and has written on 19th and 20th century European history and the Holocaust....
. 2000. The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965. Indianapolis: Indiana University PressIndiana University PressIndiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1950. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana....
. ISBN 0-253-33725-9 - Phayer, Michael. 2008. Pius XII, The Holocaust, and the Cold War. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34930-9