Vatican. 1929-1945
View from the Tiber River of the central and largest building of the Vatican - St. Peter's Basilica (lat. Basilica Sancti Petri)
A small introduction
Scholars do not always fully acknowledge the fact that the Vatican was neutral during the Second World War and that from its very beginning it adhered to the policy of reconciliation that characterized Church diplomacy in the interwar period.
For the Vatican, its declared neutrality meant remaining aloof from the two opposing power blocs and, most importantly, discreetly maintaining a favorable environment in which the Church could operate as freely and openly as possible to its full benefit. And its officially declared neutrality allowed the Vatican to cross the front lines to feed, clothe, and care for the victims of the conflict.
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, in Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées). In 1935, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, to lead religious ceremonies and bless parishioners. Source: Photovintagefrance
But before we move on to a description of the activities of the Holy See during World War II, now officially known as the Vatican, we need to rewind the clock ten years and turn to the Lateran Treaty, which resulted in the creation of the Vatican...
The Lateran Treaty and the Establishment of the Vatican
From 1870 to 1929, relations between the Holy See and Italy were determined by the existence of the so-called "Roman Question," the essence of which was the desire of the pontiffs to restore the secular power they had lost as a result of the liquidation of the Papal States and the transfer of the capital of Italy to Rome.
Maps of the Papal States (stato pontifico) in the last decade of its existence. The Papal States itself existed from 756 to 1870, but after Rome's annexation to the unified Kingdom of Italy and the withdrawal of French troops, the state ceased to exist. The then Pope, Pius IX, in protest against his loss of power, declared himself a "prisoner in the Vatican" and cursed the king for annexing his Roman possessions to Italy.
The fact is that after the dissolution of the Papal States during the creation of the unified Italian state (Risorgimento) and the declaration of Rome as its capital, Pope Pius IX refused to negotiate with the Italian government, and the Italian Parliament passed, and King Victor Emmanuel II signed, the Law of Guarantees, which enshrined the head of the Catholic Church as a sacred and inviolable figure. However, this law limited his possessions to the Vatican and Lateran palaces, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the papal country residence at Castel Gandolfo. Thus arose the "Roman Question."
Note. The "Roman Question" is a long-running dispute between the papacy and the Italian state, beginning in 1870, when Italian troops entered Rome through a breach in the city walls due to the stubborn refusal of then-Pope Pius IX to recognize the newly formed Kingdom of Italy following the political unification of the Italian lands into a single state (Risorgimento). This resulted in a long-standing impasse, known in stories The "Roman Question." And this impasse ended in 1929, when Benito Mussolini and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri signed the Lateran Treaty, a bilateral agreement recognizing the Pope's sovereignty over the new state of Vatican City. The document began with the words, "In the name of the Holy Trinity."
Palatine Honor Guard (Guardia Palatina d'Onore) is a military unit of the Vatican that served as infantry and ceremonial guard from 1850 until its disbandment in 1970. In 1970, Pope Paul VI disbanded the corps, and its functions were primarily transferred to the Swiss Guard and the Vatican Gendarmerie. Source: Rai Cultura
Here is what the leader of the Italian fascists himself said after the conclusion of the agreement:
My spirit is deeply religious. Religion is a tremendous force that must be honored and defended. Therefore, I am opposed to anticlerical and atheistic demagoguery; these are all outdated tricks. I affirm that Catholicism is a great spiritual and moral force, and I hope that from now on, relations between the Italian state and the Vatican will be entirely friendly.
Moreover, the Italian Duce remembered well the saying of one of the Italian Prime Ministers, Francesco Crispi, that “the greatest statesman of Italy will be the one who resolves the Roman question.”
The Papal States before the signing of the Lateran Treaty (1870-1929). Photo left: entrance to the closed area. Photo: Abeniacar/Getty ImagesPhoto on the right: A rare photo of Pius IX with some of his prelates. Source: Rai Cultura
However, it soon became clear that the complete agreement between the Holy See and the Italian state, which had seemed to have been established after the signing of the Lateran Treaty, was shaky. The Pope was even forced to protest against the violation of the freedom of the Catholic Action society in the encyclical "Non Abbiamo Bisogno", in which he also harshly criticized fascism in general.
In the photo on the left: A Vatican priest reads the text of the Lateran Treaty to the assembled crowd on February 11, 1929. Photo: Keystone-France/Getty Images. Pictured rightAfter the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, the Vatican began issuing its own currency, the Vatican lira, which was pegged to the Italian lira. Large denominations of the coins featured the image of the then-reigning pontiff, Pius XI (1922–1939).
From David I. Kertzer's book, The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe:
A typical example of the moral decay and spiritual decline of a Christian people separated from Rome through schism and heresy, thereby finding itself isolated from the indirect influence of Catholicism on its civil institutions." From his residence across the Tiber in Rome, Mussolini raged against the pope. If Italians still attended Mass, it was only because he commanded them to. If not for him, anticlericals would be running rampant through the streets of Italy, looting churches and forcibly feeding castor oil to cowering priests...
In the photo on the left: Pope Pius XI's representative, Cardinal Gaspari, and Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini pose in the center of a group of prominent Holy See and Italian dignitaries in the Lateran Palace before the signing of the treaty. Source: Bettmann. Pictured right: Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri and Mussolini sign the Lateran Treaty, which ended the dispute over the bitter "Roman Question" concerning secular power and the independence of the papacy in the context of Italian unification. Source: Getty Images
The Vatican and Italian Fascism
After signing the Lateran Treaty and seeking to further ally himself with the Catholic Church, the Duce outlawed Freemasonry and exempted the clergy from taxes. His anti-religious articles were no longer published, and the fascist press began to portray their leader as a virtuous Christian.
Mussolini ostentatiously baptized his children and even married his wife in the cathedral. Naturally, all of this was widely covered by Italian newspapers. Further expanding contacts with the Vatican, Mussolini ordered crucifixes to be hung in all government buildings and mandatory religious instruction to be introduced in schools. Furthermore, Mussolini's government generously channeled public funds to support the Church—all in an attempt to reach a mutually beneficial agreement between his fascist government and the Holy See.
The Italian dictator loved to publicly display traditional family values and his commitment to the Catholic Church. Benito Mussolini with his wife, Rachele Gaudí, and their children, 1930. Source: Getty Images
Chaplains returned to the army. In his "Doctrine of Fascism," Mussolini outlined the fascist program for dealing with faith:Fascism honors the God of ascetics, saints, heroes, and also God as contemplated and called upon by the naive and primitive heart of the people.».
In response, the Church allied itself with the Fascist Party on many fronts. For example, Pius XI was deeply concerned about the growth of the socialist movement and saw Mussolini as the best option for preventing a socialist revolution in Italy. He forbade his clergy from supporting socialists and communists. Furthermore, the Pope still adhered to a rather medieval view of the state and believed that there should be no freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of conscience, and, especially, freedom of religion.
Members of the fascist youth organization (Opera Nazionale Balilla, ONB) march past Benito Mussolini during celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Italy's entry into World War I, May 27, 1935. This youth organization functioned as a supplement to school education between 1926 and 1937, when it became part of the "Italian Littorio" (GIL), the youth section of the National Fascist Party. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc
Soon after the signing of the Lateran Treaty, Mussolini changed his attitude toward the Vatican: he saw the Catholic Church as a potential competitor and declared that henceforth the Church would be subordinate to the state and should not act against the will of the government. In response, the Pope, in one of his speeches, condemned the fascist oath of allegiance to Mussolini, which Italian citizens had taken from the age of six. Although the Church began to support Mussolini after the signing of the Lateran Treaty, Pius XI had growing doubts about Mussolini, particularly his megalomania and, later, his growing support for Hitler, whom he despised.
Pope Pius XI (1857–1939), during his first papal radio address in 1931. It should be noted here that Pius XI was the first Pope to address his flock by radio. In the photo on the left Depicts the Italian engineer Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, one of the inventors of radio. Source: Getty Images
It's worth noting here that Benito Mussolini understood that the relationship between the Holy See and Italian fascism wasn't solely an internal matter for Italy, but also affected the international prestige of both the Vatican and Italy itself. So one of the most fascinating aspects of this story is how, within a very short period of power, Mussolini realized the importance of securing the Pope's support.
Note. During his anti-bourgeois campaign in Italy, Mussolini at one point wanted to ban handshakes, citing the need for Italians to become tougher. Among the things he tried to ban was the idea that people shouldn't shake hands, but should instead give the Roman salute, raising their hand and palm up (you know...). In his entourage, there was a man named Achille Starace, who came up with ideas for rituals and mass fascist ceremonies for Mussolini, which he believed would make Italians even more devoted to their Duce. Incidentally, he also coined the Latin term for the party leader—Duce...
First Secretary (in 1931-1939) of the National Fascist Party and Chief of Staff of the Fascist Militia (Blackshirts) Achille Starace (Achille Starace/1889-1945). He was one of the first Italian fascists and a staunch supporter of Mussolini. In 1935, he took leave to participate in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia with the rank of colonel. He served as head of the Italian Olympic Committee. On April 29, 1945, he was captured by Italian anti-fascist partisans in Milan and killed, and his body was put on public display next to those of Mussolini and other fascist leaders.
In addition, Fascist Italy had its own interests in Austria, Albania and Yugoslavia, which largely depended on the attitude of the German and Slavic minorities in the north-eastern territories around South Tyrol and Trieste, which professed Catholicism and were ceded to Italy after the First World War under the Treaty of Versailles.
Nevertheless, Pope Pius XI collaborated closely with the Fascist leader during the last ten years of his pontificate and until his death in February 1939, lending his regime greater effectiveness and moral legitimacy. This was a particularly unnatural and curious alliance, as Mussolini himself, despite his theatrical appearances with his family in church, was a staunch anticlerical. But both sides benefited from the deal. The Duce's calculation worked: in foreign policy, the agreement enhanced the prestige of Fascist Italy, and domestically, Catholics began to identify with the existing system to a degree previously scarcely imaginable.
"Vincere!" ("Victory!") is the slogan of the fascist party, and Credere Obbedire Combattere ("Believe, Obey, Fight") was his slogan.
The Vatican and the War in Ethiopia
When Mussolini decided that Italy also needed its own empire, in early October 1935, without declaring war, with the connivance of the Western powers and the support of Nazi Germany, he launched an invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia), a member of the League of Nations. In response to this invasion, the League of Nations boycotted Italy. Mussolini's regime felt uneasy in its international isolation and needed internal and external ecclesiastical support.
Italy's superior military technology gave the Italian army a huge advantage in the war. For example, Italy had no fewer than 280 field guns versus Ethiopia's 18, and Italy had over 5000 machine guns versus Ethiopia's 400. Italy also had over 160 aircraft.
And he received this support—in the form of Catholic cardinals around the world, who actively lobbied abroad for support for Italy and its policies, for example, by trying to prevent the United States from joining the boycott, which was crucial for him. And this was one of the decisive periods of the Church's support for the fascist regime! For example, the Vatican magazine La Civiltà Cattolica slandered Ethiopia on October 11, 1935, calling it:
"a typical example of the moral decay and spiritual decline of a Christian people separated from Rome as a result of schism and heresy and thus found itself isolated from the indirect influence of Catholicism on its civil institutions" and "a typical example of the moral decay and spiritual decline of a Christian people separated from Rome as a result of schism and heresy and thus found itself isolated from the indirect influence of Catholicism on its civil institutions.
Pope Pius XI's silence regarding the Italian dictator's war of aggression in Ethiopia, which cost an estimated 300 Ethiopian lives, explains the enormous support Italian Catholics gave the regime during this African war. From their pulpits, Catholic bishops and cardinals not only extolled the war but also presented it as sacred, lending it an aura of legitimacy, claiming that it was bringing "the true Catholic faith to where barbarity, schism, and brutality had previously reigned."
Gold to the Motherland
But the most colorful and theatrical moment associated with Italian (and not only) Catholicism was the fundraising event - "Gold for the Homeland" (Oro alla Patria)! It all began in October, after Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, which provoked a negative reaction from the League of Nations, which decided to impose sanctions against Italy, banning the export of its products and the import of military materials.
Sensing a severe shortage of funds to wage war, Mussolini organized what they called "Wedding Ring Day" in December 1935, when all good, loyal fascists were required to give up their gold wedding rings, which were supposedly to be melted down to offset the costs of the international boycott and finance the war. And the Italian clergy called on even the poorest to follow suit.
Italian citizens donate gold jewelry as part of the "Wedding Ring Day" campaign. At small gatherings organized in many cities, crowds of people volunteered to donate their wedding rings and other gold and silver jewelry. 1935. Source: Getty Images
Speaking out against the "unjust sanctions" of the League of Nations, Italian priests, bishops, and cardinals melted down their rings and gold pectoral crosses for the fascist cause and the Ethiopian war. They donated their gold jewelry not only in Italy itself but also in the United States, where many Italian-Americans lived. They were proud of Mussolini and brought their jewelry to the consul of the fascist Italian government, who represented Rome in the United States. All of this was crucial for Mussolini and for the conduct of the war.
In one of the Italian provinces, one parish priest even asked for permission to melt down the church bells in honor of the Duce and a quick victory. Daily sermons, messages, and Catholic news The leaflets appealed to the collective imagination, dressing up the war of conquest in missionary, civilizing garb, and telling how the fascist empire had opened the gates to the spread of Catholicism in Africa.
On December 18, 1935, an event known as "Wedding Ring Day" took place, during which thousands of Italians spontaneously donated their wedding rings and other valuables to the state, chanting "Gold for the Fatherland!" This event, which took place in major Italian cities, became one of the main symbols of the nationalism that characterized the twenty-year fascist period. Source: Getty Images
When in 1936, after the end of the Ethiopian war, the Italian dictator proclaimed the rebirth of the empire "on the fateful hills of Rome" (la riapparazione dell'Impero sui colli fatali di Roma), the highest Catholic clergy began to chorus in praise of his victory. And one of the bishops, in a burst of patriotism, even declared in one of his sermons:
On a human level, victory was achieved thanks to the unwavering will of the leader, who miraculously moved the people forward, thanks to the genius of the generals who led our glorious armies from triumph to triumph, thanks to the courage of the soldiers who endured the most severe hardships and accomplished superhuman feats... Every gift comes from God, and when gifts are so abundant, it is all the more obvious that God is protecting the people.
All participants of this event received a certificate confirming the donation and an iron wedding ring engraved with the words "Gold for the Motherland - November 18th."
This event, organized by the Fascists, was so sincere that donations were made not only by supporters of the regime, but even by some of Mussolini's leading opponents. Among the donors were King Victor Emmanuel III, Queen Elena, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Benedetto Croce, and even Luigi Pirandello, who donated his Nobel Prize. A total of 37 tons of gold and 115 tons of silver were collected that day, which were sent to the Italian Mint as national heritage.
The era of concordats
Throughout the interwar years, the Vatican utilized every tool of international law and diplomacy to expand its influence in both Eastern and Western Europe, and sought to spread its vision of international affairs, which primarily opposed the separation of Church and State. The term "Age of Concordats" primarily refers to the period between the two world wars, when the Holy See signed an unprecedented number of concordats with new nation-states and authoritarian regimes throughout Europe and Latin America.
In the photo on the left: visit of the Spanish King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain to the Papal States. Having the official title Rex Catholicissimus ("Their Catholic Majesties") and being devout Catholics, they maintained close ties with the Church and held audiences with the popes in Rome. Pictured right: The Portuguese Prime Minister and Apostolic Nuncio Cardinal Pietro Siriaci during the ratification of the Concordat on June 1, 1940, which cemented the close relationship between the authoritarian regime of A. Salazar and the Catholic Church, granting it significant influence in exchange for the Church's support for the stability of the state. Source: Vatican News
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a turning point in the Holy See's policy began, ushering in the so-called "era of concordats," signed at the initiative of Pope Pius XI between totalitarian fascist states—Italy, Austria, Germany, Franco's Spain, and Salazar's Portugal. The Vatican believed that the concordats would guarantee Catholics living in these states certain rights and allow them to practice their faith without fear, thereby effectively creating a religious platform that would allow the Church to more deeply engage in European social and political affairs.
Note. A concordat (Latin: concordatum) is an agreement concluded between the Roman Catholic Church and the state, the purpose of which is to prevent disagreements between the Church and civil authorities and to regulate the legal status of the Church in that state. However, after the era of persecution of Christians ended, the Christian emperors of Rome generally recognized and began to protect the rights of the Church, and concordats became unnecessary. This state of affairs continued until the end of the eleventh century, when the Investiture Controversy arose, which was settled in 1122 by the Concordat of Worms, or Pactum Callixtinum, between Pope Callistus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. This treaty can be called the first concordat..
Concordat with Nazi Germany
On July 20, 1933, a fateful meeting took place in Rome: the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) and the Vice-Chancellor of Germany, Franz von Papen, officially signed the Concordat (Reichskonkordat) between the Holy See and the German Reich. This event put an end to the negotiations that had begun after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany.
Pictured right: The signing of the Reichskonkordat on July 20, 1933, in Rome. From left to right: Prelate Ludwig Kaas, Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, Secretary for Ecclesiastical Affairs Giuseppe Pizzardo, Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, Alfredo Ottaviani, and member of the Reich Ministry of the Interior Rudolf Buttmann. In the photo on the left: A. Hitler and Vatican Nuncio Cesare Orsenito (January, 1935)
Note. In 1933, nearly 40% of Germany's population was Catholic, and as a minority within a predominantly Protestant majority, they constantly felt vulnerable to attacks on the charge that they were not "true Germans" due to suspicions that they were "carrying orders from Rome." Immediately after Germany's unification, they spent many years trying to defend their rights by organizing and supporting the Catholic Centre Party. Now, with the Nazis coming to power and banning opposition political parties, German Catholics were forced to decide whether to continue supporting the party. It should be noted here that German Catholic clergy held varying opinions on National Socialism—some expressed sympathy for Hitler's call to "overcome the un-German spirit within the people" and were deeply concerned that Bolshevism, which had gained a foothold in the East, posed a far greater threat to the Church than the Nazis, who had recently come to power in Germany. Others, on the contrary, opposed the idea of National Socialism.
In the photo on the left: ecclesiastical pulpit of the Reich Church. Pictured right: Catholic priests perform the Nazi salute next to NSDAP leaders, including Joseph Goebbels (far right). Source: Photo agency
Witnesses to this event included Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Pope Paul VI) and Ludwig Kaas, leader of the Catholic Centre Party in Germany. Neither Pope Pius XI nor Hitler were present at the meeting—both had already approved the Concordat. The Pope ratified the agreement two months later, on September 10. The 1933 Concordat defined the rights of the Catholic Church in the Third Reich. The Church, which had traditionally held a significant position in Germany and played a very active role in the country's political life, pledged to renounce political activity within the Reich in exchange for a promise from the German authorities not to persecute the Catholic Church and its members. The signed agreement also guaranteed German citizens of the Catholic faith the right to freely observe their rites, maintain Catholic schools, and own church property.
Hitler, who had courted the Holy See by emphasizing his own Christianity while simultaneously seeking to intimidate the Vatican with demonstrations of his growing power, was satisfied. This treaty with the Church was his first international agreement, which significantly enhanced his standing in Germany and far beyond. And although the Nazi regime had no intention of further honoring its treaty obligations, it nonetheless valued the international prestige this agreement brought and hoped that it would temporarily pacify the Catholic Church and eliminate Catholic opposition in favor of mandatory loyalty to its regime.
The Third Reich and Catholic priests
But the Vatican was also satisfied. The Concordat of 1933 gave the papacy what it most desired. It stipulated that the state would allow Catholic parishes to administer the sacraments to the faithful and instruct their members in the faith, and, most importantly, that civil authorities would not interfere in the appointment of bishops and pastors. These guarantees were also important because, after the unification of Germany, the predominantly Protestant Prussian government exerted serious pressure on Catholic churches throughout Germany.Culture war), secularized church lands and imprisoned bishops and pastors, threatening Catholic loyalty to the state. Also, since the time of Otto von Bismarck, Germany has stopped appointing new bishops from Rome.
In the photo on the left: Caricature. Pro-Nazi theologian Ludwig Müller, recently appointed Reich Bishop by Hitler, believed the cross of Jesus Christ was too light and attached additional planks to it, transforming it into a swastika. Artist: John Heartfield, Czechoslovakia, 1933.
The political significance of the signing of the 1933 Concordat was interpreted ambivalently at the time, and remains so today. Most German bishops gave their loyal, if powerless, approval to the pact, which would have stripped them of their power. A few bishops objected, criticizing the Nazi regime's lack of morality, and Hitler, who had only recently become Chancellor of Germany, interpreted the Concordat as receiving Church approval for his policies, thereby achieving international recognition for his Nazi regime. This was partially true, as some German Catholics perceived the signing of the treaty as a sign that church officials had softened their opposition to National Socialism.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Germany, Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo (1873-1946), was the Vatican's main diplomatic link with the Nazi regime. Pictured left: Papal Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo and Adolf Hitler. Source: Federal ArchivesPictured on the right: Papal Nuncio Cesare Orsenito and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. You can see who's in the background. Source: Photo agency
Note. Immediately after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, the Holy See attempted to sign a Concordat with the young Weimar Republic, but to no avail. The stumbling block was the Church's insistence on state support for Catholic schools and Catholic religious education in public schools. This condition, however, was unacceptable to the Weimar Reichstag, especially to the Socialist deputies, who believed it violated the principle of separation of Church and State. While still the Holy See's nuncio to Bavaria (1917–1920) and then to the Weimar Republic (1920–29), Eugenio Pacelli concluded Concordats with individual German states, namely Bavaria in 1925, Prussia in 1929, and Baden in 1932.
To summarize this agreement, it can be said that the Concordat was a classic political "rollback," to use modern parlance. The Church supported the new dictatorship, endorsing the end of democracy and freedom of speech in Germany, and furthermore, it bound its bishops to Hitler's Reich through an oath of allegiance. In return, the Church received enormous tax revenues and the protection of ecclesiastical privileges. Religious instruction and prayer were restored in German schools, and criticism of the Church was banned.
In the photo on the leftAt the 1934 Reich Party Congress for Unity and Strength in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler welcomes Protestant Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller (right) and Catholic Abbot Albanus Schachleitner (center) as guests of honor. Photo: Heinrich Hoffmann. Source: Photo agency. Pictured right: Joseph Goebbels and a Catholic priest. Source: Getty Images
Pope Pius XII
Following the death of Pope Pius XI in 1939, tensions between the Vatican and the Italian Fascist government sharply deteriorated. For the first time since the signing of the Concordat, a new pope was elected. The Italian government indirectly attempted to influence the election, even naming candidates for the papal throne through the controlled Italian press, but these candidates were not elected. Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary of State and a man with extensive diplomatic experience, became Pope Pius XII. Former Cardinal Pacelli adopted the name Pius XII, thus demonstrating his intention to continue the policies of his predecessor.
Cardinal Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (1876-1958) was a distinguished diplomat before his election as Pope, playing a central role in shaping the Vatican's international relations in the early 20th century. In 1936, he became the first pope to visit the United States (while still a cardinal), traveling extensively and meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Source: Federal Archives
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary of State, never preached the Word of God or led a church community, and all of his ecclesiastical titles were acquired exclusively through diplomatic service. Cardinal Pacelli's greatest achievements in the nine years preceding his ascension to the papal throne were his contributions to various encyclicals and pronouncements of Pope Pius XI. Notable among these were his condemnations of communist persecution of the Church in Russia, Mexico, and Spain.
In the photo on the leftThe Kennedy family, led by Joseph P. Kennedy (the US Ambassador to the UK) and his wife Rose, attended the coronation of Pope Pius XII at the Vatican, representing President Roosevelt. Sons John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy personally received Holy Communion from the Pope. This rare honor cemented an important bond between the family and the new pontiff early in their relationship, as documented in family albums and archives. Source: Newsday
Note. Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, then still serving as Secretary of State to Pope Pius XI, made a two-week visit to the United States in October-November 1936, where he was warmly received and met with numerous government officials, including US President Franklin Roosevelt. At the time, Pacelli was the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to visit the United States. He traveled to New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Chicago, earning him the nickname "The Flying Cardinal" in the American media for his five-day air tour of the East Coast. During this visit, Pacelli met Myron Taylor, a prominent financier and head of the largest US steel corporation, who would later become an important liaison between American and Vatican diplomacy. In the future, M. Taylor will be appointed as the personal representative of the US President to the Vatican.
Aviation Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli's (the future Pope Pius XII) voyage through the United States in October–November 1936, earning him the nickname "The Flying Cardinal." Pictured left: Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli meeting with Joseph Kennedy (businessman, future ambassador, and father of future President John F. Kennedy) during his diplomatic mission to America in 1936.
And after Pacelli’s election to the papal throne, US President Roosevelt telegraphed him:
I was delighted to learn of your election to the papacy. I fondly recall our last conversation during your visit to the United States.
The new pope, Pius XII, primarily sought to improve relations between the Church and the Third Reich. He met with Germany's highest clergy to establish a working group to improve relations between the Church and the Nazi government. The election of this cardinal to the papacy was not well received in Germany, as he had always been an opponent of National Socialism and had effectively determined the unfriendly policies of the Vatican under his predecessor, calling them "pathetic plagiarists obsessed with the superstitions of race and blood."
Pope Pius XII was the head of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City from March 2, 1939, until his death on October 9, 1958. He is the last pope to take the papal name "Pius" to date.
The election of Eugenio Pacelli to the papal throne greatly infuriated Goebbels, who, through his propaganda media, declared that:
Pius XI was a "half-Jew whose mother was a Dutch Jew," while Cardinal Pacelli was a "full Jew," and professors from the University of Tübingen discovered that Jesus had a Persian mother and a German soldier as his father.
Be that as it may, Hitler was still satisfied with Pacelli's election to the papacy, since his long tenure as nuncio to Germany (1917–1929), his excellent command of German, his participation in the signing of the Concordat with Nazi Germany, and his anti-communist views allowed the Nazi leader to hope that the newly elected pope would be more accommodating than his predecessor. On the other hand, Hitler's new ambassador to the Vatican, Ernst von Weizsäcker, told Hitler:
I'm actually leaving for an enemy country.
German diplomat, Baron and SS Brigadeführer, appointed Reich Ambassador to the Vatican Ernst von Weizsäcker (1882-1951). Ernst von Weizsäcker was a prominent German diplomat who joined the German diplomatic service in 1920 after serving in navy, who held important positions under the Nazi regime. He was the father of Richard von Weizsäcker, who later became President of Germany (1984–1994).
Moreover, Eugenio Pacelli's long service in the diplomatic service as papal nuncio in Germany determined his love for everything German, but he always had a critical attitude towards National Socialism, considering it incompatible with Christianity, either from a moral or doctrinal point of view.
But in France and Britain they rejoiced at Pacelli's election, and he even received applause from the official organ of the French Communist Party. Humanity, which on March 3, 1939, called him "an opponent of the racial point of view and a friend of freedom of conscience and human dignity."
The Holy See and War
At the very peak of pre-war events, during the height of German-Polish tensions, Pius XII tried everything possible to resolve the Danzig issue. He was determined to avoid a German attack on Poland, but negotiations on this issue failed, and Pius XII initiated a policy of rapprochement between Italy and France. However, this policy, too, was unsuccessful. When it became clear that a German attack on Poland was inevitable, the governments of many countries, including Great Britain, asked the Vatican to exert pressure on the warring countries.
Here is what Cambridge University professor Owen Chadwick (1916-2015), a leading historian of the Christian church, wrote about the impending war:
Ordinary men and women across Europe, seeing war looming and their governments helpless to prevent it, looked to the Pope as a desperate hope. The prerequisite for his success was his reputation for impartiality, genuine concern as a Christian pastor, and, above all, neutrality.
On August 31, 1939, the day before Germany invaded Poland, Pope Pius XII read a diplomatic message to several ambassadors accredited to the Vatican:
In the name of God... I implore the governments of Germany and Poland to do everything possible to avoid any incident... I implore the governments of Great Britain, France and Italy to support my request...
Pope Pius XII generally opposed war, total war, and genocide, condemning the killing of innocents and the persecution of minorities, but avoided directly condemning Nazi Germany by name. Source: Getty Images
But, as we know, ignoring the Pope's call, on September 1, 1939, six months after Pope Pius XII began his 19-year papacy, Hitler's Wehrmacht occupied Poland, a bastion of Vatican policy against the Soviet Union. It's difficult to imagine a major setback for Vatican diplomacy and for the anti-communist Pius XII personally, as the war's outbreak was undesirable for the Vatican, which had dreamed of a "crusade" against the USSR.
Immediately after Germany's attack on Poland, the Vatican and the Polish government began to blame each other. For example, Polish Foreign Minister Józef Beck, after his country's defeat, told the Italian ambassador in Bucharest:
"One of the main culprits in my country's tragedy is the Vatican. I realized too late that our foreign policy served the purely selfish ends of the Catholic Church. We should have sought friendship with the Soviet Union, not support for Hitler."
And Pius XII, on November 1, 1939, addressing the Catholic hierarchy and the people of the United States with a message in honor of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the first episcopal see on the territory of this American country, never once mentioned Poland or the war that had begun.
Pope Pius XII surrounded by prelates before a radio address. Pius XII was the second pope in history to deliver sermons via radio. Source: Getty Images
But whatever the Vatican's relationship with the Polish government-in-exile, the Holy See was still concerned about the situation of the faithful in that country, and one of the most pressing issues in the relationship between the Vatican and the Third Reich was the position of the Polish Church in occupied territory. Hitler, however, recognized the validity of the Concordat only in the territory of the Reich before 1939, but the Vatican's authority did not extend to Nazi-occupied territories. Papal Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo was never able to enter Poland, where over 300 Catholic priests were arrested.
After Germany's attack on Poland, the war began to escalate, and soon Pope Pius XII publicly condemned the Wehrmacht's invasion of Norway and Denmark, and after the occupation of Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, he officially declared that the papacy would provide moral support to these occupied countries...
Contacts with the USA
With the outbreak of war in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the then-neutral United States shrewdly realized he needed a man of his own in the Vatican. This man had to be adroit, determined, and incorruptible. Without thinking twice, the president made an offer to businessman and philanthropist Myron Taylor (1874-1859). Rather than ask the Senate for funds to open a new embassy, a process that could have been very labor-intensive given the overwhelmingly Protestant membership of the Senate, Franklin D. Roosevelt established his own unique form of official relations with the Vatican by sending his personal representative.
In this February 27, 1940, file photo, Pope Pius XII receives special envoy to the Vatican Myron C. Taylor (1874-1959), who delivered a letter from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Source: AP
On February 25, 1940, the special representative of the US President, 66-year-old Myron Taylor, arrives in Rome, where he is warmly welcomed, and the prima of the Catholic press, the newspaper Roman Observer, wrote in enthusiastic tones about the ambassador's arrival in the context of the rapprochement between the Vatican and Washington and the fact that they "can no longer postpone vigilant cooperation in the alarming conditions that have developed in the world."
The struggle for Italian neutrality
Beyond combating the "errors" of Communism and Nazism, ending the war, and alleviating the suffering it caused, the goal closest to Pius XII's heart in 1939 and the first half of 1940 was maintaining Italy's neutrality. Pope Pius XII sincerely sought to avoid Italy's involvement in the war, and to this end, in early May 1940, he approached President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a proposal to make a "last effort"—to pressure the Italian government to keep it from entering the war. Such negotiations were conducted by US Ambassador to Italy Phillips and to the Vatican Myron Taylor. But their efforts yielded no results.
It should be noted that even a day before the outbreak of the war, on August 29, 1939, the Pope sent the Jesuit monk Father Tacchi Venturi (1861–1956) to Mussolini to urge him to do everything possible to preserve peace, or at least to prevent Italy from being drawn into the conflict that was already beginning, and that this war could indeed be the end of the current civilization... However, a few days after Father Tacchi Venturi's visit to Mussolini, Italy's neutrality was no longer so certain.
And Mussolini, inspired by the victories of the Wehrmacht, even despite the opposition of the Holy See and some generals, nevertheless declared war on France on June 10, 1940, a week before Marshal Pétain publicly asked Germany for peace...
The head of the French collaborationist government in Vichy, Marshal Pétain, accompanied by Prime Minister Pierre Laval, receives good wishes from Apostolic Nuncio Valerio Valeri. Source: Keystone-France
And yet, continuing to maneuver between the opposing sides and straddling the fence, Pope Pius XII, almost immediately after France's defeat, recognized the collaborationist Vichy government and began negotiations with it to repeal the anticlerical laws enacted in pre-war France. These negotiations were successful: the Vichy government's Minister of Education repealed the 1902-1905 laws concerning the religious education of youth.
The Vatican and the USSR
The attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR was regarded by the entire spiritual leadership of the Vatican, the newspapers it controlled, and various official publications of Catholic organizations as the beginning of a victorious holy war against “godless communism.”
Note: Throughout the pre-war period, Soviet propaganda continued to traditionally portray the Holy See as a factor aligned not only with the most reactionary capitalist circles but also as a fascist henchman, fully supporting its aggressive intentions. During this period, Soviet newspapers and magazines portrayed the Holy See as a warmonger, whether it was Italy's aggression against Ethiopia or the capitalists' "plotting" war against the USSR. Based on this, Soviet propaganda completely denied any Vatican commitment to peacemaking. Or, more accurately, that the Vatican's struggle to maintain peace was completely out of the question, as such a concept could only be applied to the USSR's position.
And when in October 1940 the Soviet Plenipotentiary Representative of the USSR in Yugoslavia, V. A. Plotnikov, reported to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs that, on the instructions of Pius XII, a Croatian Catholic priest had approached him with an official proposal to receive the Apostolic Nuncio of the Vatican in the Kremlin to discuss the possibility of united action, emphasizing that the Holy See was ready "to join the great power of the Soviet Union with the moral strength of the Catholic Church with its global connections," the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, V. M. Molotov, responded that:
The Soviet government does not see the possibility of concluding an agreement with the Pope, since such an agreement could cause discontent among both the Orthodox clergy and religiously minded parishioners who are not sympathetic to the Catholic Church.
Immediately after Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR, Mussolini ordered the Italian ambassador to the Vatican, Bernardo Attolico, to personally request from the Pope a public confirmation of the slogan "crusade against communism," but, considering the consequences that the Catholic Church would face if it were to establish a Hitlerite world order in the event of a victory over the Soviet Union, Pius XII refused, which led to a series of reprisals by Mussolini's fascist government: the Vatican was placed under the surveillance of the fascist police, and its communication with the outside world was extremely difficult.
On July 5, 1941, the British ambassador to the Vatican, F. Osborne, reported to London that:
Pope Pius XII personally informed him that in many countries, especially in Italy, Spain and South America, the war against the Soviet Union was seen as a religious crusade.
British Ambassador to the Holy See from 1936 to 1947, who was confined to a small apartment in the Vatican from 1940, when Italy entered the war (along with other Allied diplomats, their families and servants), and remained there until the Americans liberated Rome in 1944. Source: The Tumbrel Diaries
After Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR, Pope Pius XII, despite pressure from Hitler and Mussolini, did not express a single word of agreement or approval for the war against the USSR. But he also did not condemn this attack, as he did with Hitler's attacks on Yugoslavia and Greece.
Of interest are the remarks made by Vatican Secretary of State Domenico Tardini in his conversation with the Italian ambassador, Attolico, on September 5, 1941. Tardini urged the Holy See to finally take a clear stand against Bolshevism, particularly taking into account the fact that the Church's position in Germany, despite everything, was better than in Russia. To this, Domenico Tardini responded:
I would be extremely happy if Communism were defeated. It is the Church's most serious enemy, but not its only one. Nazism also persecuted and continues to persecute the Church. We are guided by the saying: "One devil persecutes another." If the other one is worse, then so much the better.
Domenico Tardini (1888-1961) - cardinal, diplomat and assistant to Pope Pius XII and one of the most influential members of the Roman Curia in the Vatican
In early September 1941, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to Pope Pius XII, aiming to clarify the pro-Hitler position of the highest Catholic clergy and to convince him of the need and encourage the Vatican to appeal to Catholics worldwide to recognize aid to the Soviet Union as a God-pleasing act. Here's what he wrote:
As far as I know, churches in Russia are open. I believe that Russia can achieve religious freedom. I believe that if this happens, it will be possible to restore genuine religious freedom in Russia on a much more solid foundation than exists in modern Germany... I consider Russian dictatorship less dangerous for the fate of our peoples than the German form of dictatorship.
In his speeches covering the period from the German invasion of the USSR to July 1943, Pius XII's rhetoric remained virtually unchanged. However, after the defeat of the Wehrmacht at Stalingrad and the subsequent Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front, the Pope began calling the war "senseless" and its excessive cruelty. And, as always, the Pope always sought to emphasize the Vatican's neutrality in this war and the Holy See's impartiality toward all warring parties.
The Vatican and Japan
It should be noted that one of the duties of the US President's special representative to the Vatican was to monitor relations between the Holy See and militaristic Japan. The American diplomat asserted that the Vatican's declared neutrality was questionable, as the Vatican was conducting "diplomatic contacts at the highest levels with non-Christian Japan," an adversary of the United States, while the Vatican was unwilling to hear of establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The Vatican explained these relations with Japan by citing the fact that more Catholics lived there than in the USSR, and that all these contacts were being conducted to care for Japanese Catholics.
Japanese Ambassador to Vichy Japan Ken Harada (1893-1973), who presented his credentials to Pope Pius XII in March 1942 and represented Japan at the Vatican until 1946. The Vatican explained the establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan by citing the fact that Japan had a larger Catholic population than the USSR. Pope Pius XII knighted him and awarded him the Order of Saint Sylvester.
Ultimately, Myron Taylor was unable to prevent the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Japan, and in March 1942, the Japanese ambassador to Vichy, Harada, was warmly welcomed to the Vatican. This move by the Vatican was condemned worldwide, especially given the understanding that no religious considerations could justify these relations.
The final stage of the war
In the final stages of the war, Pope Pius XII, in all his proclamations, confirmed the turn towards democracy and a foreign policy orientation towards the United States, which became crucial for Vatican policy after the liberation of Rome.
In the photo on the left: New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser and General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division, speak to Swiss Guards at the gates of the Vatican on June 4, 1944. Source: George Bull. Pictured rightAmerican troops in Piazza Roma, 1944
The pontiff called on the entire international community, and above all the United States, to provide assistance to Italy, which had emerged from the war, in its post-war reconstruction. The Pope directed all his appeals primarily to the United States, because no other belligerent country had sufficient resources to provide assistance to other states in the final stages of hostilities. And this is the "Atlantic Option."
Life inside the Vatican
By 1945, the Vatican's position on issues concerning Italy's domestic politics had undergone a significant shift. Pope Pius XII had always considered monarchy to be the ideal model for government, while he viewed democracy and totalitarian regimes as dangerous and flawed systems of governance in both form and essence. However, during the war, his views on this issue underwent a significant shift, ultimately leading the pontiff to discuss the benefits of democracy, urging his flock to establish a democratic state in Italy after the war.
The Vatican and the Jews
Beginning in the 1930s, the Vatican tried in vain to persuade Italy's Fascist authorities to find compromise solutions to issues related to the situation of Jews in the country. But these efforts were localized and did not result in a larger Church policy aimed at countering the Fascists' anti-Semitic campaign. By the time Mussolini came to power, approximately 35,000 Jews lived in Italy, representing one-tenth of one percent of the population, and this was initially not seen as a threat to the Fascists.
In fact, there were many Jews in the civil service in the country, and there were even some who enthusiastically embraced Mussolini's ideas and became fascists, and from the time of the First World War until the 1920s, Mussolini's mistress was the Jewish Margherita Sarfatti, who was also one of his main political advisers.
Margherita Sarfatti (1880-1961) was an Italian journalist, art historian, philanthropist, collector, and prominent propaganda advisor to the National Fascist Party. She was the biographer and lover of Benito Mussolini.
Note. The author of two dozen books and thousands of newspaper articles, Margherita Sarfatti is perhaps best known as the former lover and longtime companion of Benito Mussolini. She leveraged her privileged relationship with Mussolini to occupy a central place in the official intellectual and artistic life of the Fascist regime. Born in Venice's Old Ghetto on April 8, 1880, Margherita Sarfatti was the fourth child of a wealthy and educated Venetian Jewish family whose friends included Pope Pius X. Margherita Sarfatti was renowned not only as an image-maker for Fascism but also as Mussolini's personal propagandist. Sarfatti created a cult following around Mussolini, writing his biography, The Life of Benito Mussolini, which went through seventeen editions and was translated into eighteen languages. Sarfatti sought to give Fascism global prestige by framing its art in continuity with Rome and the Renaissance—the two most notable periods of Italian high culture. She claimed that Fascism ushered in a "second Italian Renaissance" that would restore the preeminence of Italian art, and through Mussolini, she hoped to restore Rome's glory with Mussolini as its Caesar. Despite this, Mussolini began to lose sexual interest in her, taking the younger and more attractive Clara Petacci as his mistress in 1932. Even after their breakup, Sarfatti continued to glorify and defend Mussolini..
Margherita Sarfatti was a key fascist propaganda advisor, helping shape Mussolini's image and the early fascist movement. Despite her Jewish heritage and conversion to Catholicism, she was forced to leave Italy in 1938 due to anti-Semitic laws. She played a crucial role in Mussolini's rise to power, developing his political program and strategy, until her own Jewish background conflicted with the regime's racial laws, leading to her exile.
In 1930, creating the appearance of complete agreement between the Fascist regime and clergy of various faiths, the Italian government passed the so-called "Falco Law" regarding the Jewish community, which united all Italian Jewish religious organizations into a single "Union of Italian Jewish Communities." Mussolini expressed his vision of the Jewish question in 1933, giving an interview to a German Jewish reporter, in which he specifically stated that he saw no problem with the Jews and did not believe in any racial theories.
Note. After the Nuremberg Laws were passed in Germany in 1935, which, among other things, banned marriages between Jews and non-Jews, Mussolini initially opposed them and their progenitor, Adolf Hitler. And, according to the recollections of many in his inner circle, Mussolini ignored German racial superiority, noting that while Roman Italy produced literary luminaries such as Virgil, the Germanic tribes were barely literate. Together with his mistress, Margherita Sarfatti, he published a series of tracts back in the 1920s urging Jewish Italians (as opposed to Italian Jews) to remain in Italy rather than move to British Palestine. Mussolini considered Jews Italians, contrary to German National Socialism.
The front page of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, November 11, 1938: Race protection laws approved by the Council of Ministers
Pope Pius XI's position on the Jewish question was more complex. Strong anti-Jewish sentiment had long reigned in the Church. But by the early 20th century, this had become part of a larger anti-Semitic trend within the Church, which viewed Jews as part of a secret conspiracy against Christians. And many church publications openly published such material.
But by the late 30s, when the alliance between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany had finally consolidated and strengthened, Mussolini finally began drafting laws persecuting Italian Jews. The anti-Semitic campaign in Italy began with Hitler's triumphant visit in May 1938, after which, in July 1938, Mussolini announced the Italian government's new racial policy, citing the superiority of the pure Italian race and the fact that, according to this policy, Jews were not part of the Italian race and actually posed a threat to "pure" Italians. This would be followed in early September by the first major series of anti-Semitic laws, known as the racial laws...
In the photo on the left: The mass arrest of Jews in Rome on October 16, 1943. In July 1943, the Allies landed in Sicily, beginning the "Italian Campaign," and Rome was subjected to its first heavy bombing. On September 9, Marshal Badoglio, King Victor Emmanuel, the government, and military leaders fled the capital for the south. The Germans entered and captured the city. What happened next is shown in the photograph. Pictured rightA memorial plaque in Rome commemorates the Nazi roundup and deportation of Jewish families to death camps on October 16, 1943. "Of more than 1000 people, only 16 survived," the plaque reads.
These laws expelled all Jewish children from public schools and all Jewish teachers and professors from educational institutions. This was a very dramatic time for Jews in Italy and came as a great shock.
The Vatican's uncensored daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an article shortly after the announcement of the new racial policy, primarily calling for action against Jews, viewing them as a danger and claiming that the Church had always called for the restriction of their rights. This article in the Vatican's daily newspaper was then picked up by the entire Fascist press throughout Italy to justify the imposition of the anti-Semitic racial laws that were soon to go into effect.
Jews who had once fled persecution in Rome found refuge in a monastery on the outskirts. "The Parents of the Infant Jesus Were Hiding with Us" is a 1944 Christmas play featuring Jews who had taken refuge in the monastery (children, the Madonna, and Saint Joseph). Source: Vatican News
The racial laws in Italy never provided for the mass murder of Jews, but in 1943 Mussolini was overthrown and German troops captured all of central and northern Italy and took control of Rome, and the Jews were now subjected to Nazi extermination policies...
Bombing of the Vatican
Since the Vatican, the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, remained neutral throughout the war, both Allied and Axis aircrews were generally under general orders to respect its neutrality even when bombing Rome, but the Vatican was nevertheless twice subject to air raids.
Note. On the day Italy entered the war (June 10, 1940), Cardinal Luigi Maglione, Secretary of State of the Holy See, appealed to the British Ambassador, Francis d'Arcy Osborne, Duke of Leeds, not to bomb Rome. Prior to this, Italian newspapers had published an excerpt from the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph threatening the bombing of Rome and other Italian cities. Cardinal Maglione showed Ambassador Osborne this excerpt, to which Osborne declared it had been written by an idiot and should be ignored.
The first incident occurred on November 5, 1943, when an unidentified aircraft circled over Rome for several hours and then dropped four bombs on the Vatican, causing significant damage to buildings but killing no one. Public opinion blamed the Italian fascists or the Germans. The Americans, however, believed it was one of their bombers that had strayed and dropped its bombs on the wrong target, and secretly confessed to the Vatican. The British also believed it could have been one of their own aircraft, but a later investigation disproved this theory.
November 5, 1943 - On this day, the Vatican suffered the first of two bombings of World War II. In the photo on the left: A photograph showing the damage caused to one of the buildings in the Vatican. Pictured rightA bomb fell near the train station, and shrapnel marks are still visible on the wall adorned with a sculpture of Elijah. Source: Vatican News
Note. In September 1943, even before the bombing of the Vatican, the Allies issued a series of false propaganda claims that the Nazis had invaded the Vatican and imprisoned the Pope. These false claims sparked a surge of anti-Nazi sentiment in Latin America, and Argentina even considered severing diplomatic relations with Germany. It was suggested that the Italian bombing of the Vatican was a provocation designed to shift blame onto the Allies and counter their propaganda.
The second bombing, affecting only the outer edge of the city, occurred at approximately the same hour on March 1, 1944, when a single British plane dropped six bombs on the Vatican, destroying a mosaic workshop near the Vatican train station, shattering windows in the high dome of St. Peter's Basilica, nearly destroying Vatican Radio, and blowing out all the glass in the College of Santa Monica. The raid killed one person—a worker in the Piazza Sant'Uffizio who was outdoors—and wounded a Dutch Augustinian resident at the College of Santa Monica. The attack also severely damaged the Palazzo Sant'Uffizio, the city's College of Propaganda, and St. Peter's Chapel.
The aftermath of the Vatican bombing
After Vatican officials contacted Allied Air Command, they were told that the pilot had simply gotten lost and opened the bomb bay in the wrong place. Allied Air Command assured the Vatican that strict precautions would be taken to prevent a similar incident from recurring.
Here is the testimony given by police officer Luigi Turchetto, who was on duty the night of the bombing:
I distinctly heard the continuous noise of a plane flying at low altitude. I couldn't see it, the darkness prevented me from seeing it. From the engine noise, I thought the plane was coming from the northeast. It flew over the Vatican train station, then went a little further, and immediately turned back. Almost immediately, I heard a hissing sound and a prolonged flash, creating the impression of several bombs exploding almost simultaneously. The first fell on the slope near the border wall of Vatican City State, on the side of St. Peter's Station. The second fell on the terrace of the Mosaic Workshop. The third fell behind the Governor's Palace, and the fourth in the Vatican Gardens, in a location I couldn't immediately determine.
Vatican Radio, the official broadcasting service of the Vatican, was founded in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radio. The station was commissioned by Pope Pius XI to convey the Pope's voice and the Gospel message to the world. In 1936, the International Telecommunication Union recognized Vatican Radio as a "special case," allowing it to broadcast without geographic restrictions. During World War II, the station's news broadcasts were banned in Germany, but it remained an independent voice, broadcasting in four languages. It was used to disseminate information about the state of the Church in occupied territories and to search for missing persons through the Vatican Information Center. In the photo on the left: a man listens to Vatican Radio. Pictured right: Vatican Radio control room
Note. There is another conspiracy theory about the incident: the bombing was carried out from an airplane. Savoia-Marchetti 79 and was organized by an Italian fascist politician and opponent of the Catholic Church, Roberto Farinacci, whose goal was to disable Vatican Radio, which was suspected of sending valuable military information in coded messages to the Allies.
Roberto Farinacci (1892-1945) was a radical Italian fascist politician, journalist, and general who played a key role in Benito Mussolini's rise to power and was known for his extremist views, including rabid anti-Semitism and a strong pro-German stance. He advocated an alliance with Nazi Germany and was one of the main authors and proponents of the Italian racial laws (racial laws) in 1938. After Mussolini's arrest, Farinacci fled to Germany. He later returned to northern Italy, where he was captured by partisans and executed on April 28, 1945, in Vimercate.
Conclusion
The importance of Rome during World War II cannot be overstated—the city played a decisive role in the conflict, both as a strategic objective and as a cultural symbol. Its capture by the Allies helped pave the way for the defeat of the Axis powers and demonstrated the importance of cultural heritage in shaping the course of history. While the bombing of Rome could certainly have been avoided, many historians today view it on the same level as the bombing of Tokyo—the sole purpose of the bombings was to destabilize the population and destroy its morale, and it worked well in Italy, as Mussolini's regime fell shortly thereafter.
In the photo on the left: Catholic partisans hold posters of Pope Pius XII during the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944. Pictured rightPope Pius XII meets with children affected by the war
Although the city itself was not as badly damaged as Milan, Turin or Genoa, its bombing gave impetus to the Allied forces to quickly end the Italian campaign, and also served as a reminder to the citizens of Italy that the war they wanted had finally come to their doorstep.
In the photo on the left: A Swiss Guard talks to American soldiers. Pictured rightGeneral Mark Wayne Clark (1896-1984) in St. Peter's Square, June 5, 1944. Clark commanded the Fifth Army, formed in French Morocco, and was involved in the development and implementation of the Allied landing plan in Italy.
Literature
1E. S. Tokareva. "The Vatican's Foreign Policy and Peacekeeping Initiatives in the Second Half of the 1930s – Early 1940s as Reflected in the Soviet Press"
2A. L. Beglov. "The Crusade of Prayer"
3. David Kertzer. The Pope And Mussolini
4. Owen Chadwick. Britain and the Vatican during the Second World War
5. Lucia Ceci. The Catholic Church and facism in Italy: modernization, wars, anti-Semitism, 1929-1945
Information