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, duringWorld War II and the beginning of theCold War.
Between the loss of thePapal States in 1870 and the signing of theLateran Treaty in 1929, the diplomatic recognition of the papacy had actually increased, with eighteen accredited members of the Vatican diplomatic corps in 1890, fourteen in 1914, and twenty-four in 1921.[1] This did not represent international support for the papal position in theRoman Question, however, as these nations also recognized the unified Kingdom of Italy, whose diplomatic corps in Rome developed over a similar trajectory.[1]
In 1936 (three years before Pius XII became pope), there were thirty-four ambassadors, ministers, orchargé d'affaires to the Holy See.[2] However, several of these diplomats spent much of their time in other European capitals—either for personal reasons or because they served multiple embassies (Argentina, Estonian, Latvia, Liberia, Peru, and El Salvador), were merelysinecures (Belgium), or were unpaid (Honduras).[2] Others representedmicrostates that "hardly counted" (Monaco,San Marino, and theOrder of Malta).[2] The Spanish ambassador was driven out by a "tragi-comic siege" in thePiazza di Spagna.[2] Nicaragua's ambassador wassenile, and Panama's ambassador had not been seen since 1929.[2]
In March 1939, Pius XII inherited thirty-eight diplomatic missions to the Vatican: thirteen at the "ambassadorial level", and the rest at the ministerial level; there were also papal representatives in thirty-eight countries, but the exchanges were not always mutual.[3] At the time there were also twenty-three Vatican envoys without diplomatic status in their host state.[3]
In contrast to the varioussinecures,Diego von Bergen was a high-ranking member of the German diplomatic service, who twice turned down the office of Foreign Secretary to remain in Rome.[2] According to Morley, "when Pius XII became Pope, there were papal nuncios in, among other capitals, Belgrade, Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, the Hague, Paris, Prague, Rome, and Warsaw. The circumstances of war reduced this number and changed the location and level of some of the diplomatic representatives. The end-result of these modifications was that during the years 1939-1943, the Secretariat of State was in diplomatic contact with its emissaries in Berlin, Rome, Vichy, Berne, Bratislava, Zagreb, Bucharest, and Budapest. In addition, active communications were maintained with the apostolic delegates in London, Washington, and Ankara".[4]
A list of diplomats accredited to the Vatican published in December 1940 listsDiego von Bergen as the dean of thediplomatic corps, followed by thirteen Ambassadors and twenty three Ministers, withMyron Charles Taylor conspicuously in last place.[5] "Nuncios" and "Ambassadors" were only exchanged between theHoly See and countries where the pope's representativeex officio was granted the title of dean of the diplomatic corps. In other countries, Pius XII was represented by anapostolic delegate or achargé d'affaires, constituting a lower level of diplomatic recognition (representing the ecclesiastical hierarchy of a country, not the government). An apostolic delegate was neither accredited to a host government, nor required their approval.
A special 1948Christmas Evemidnight Mass for diplomats celebrated by Pius XII was attended by 300 diplomatic personnel.[6] In February 1949, there were thirty-nine accredited members of the Vatican diplomatic corps.[7] ANew Year's Day 1951 audience with the "entire diplomatic corps" included thirty-six accredited representatives, including eighteen full ambassadors, sixteen ministers, and twochargés d'affaires (China and Finland).[8]
| Territory | Apostolic visitor |
|---|---|
| Independent State of Croatia | Giuseppe Marcone |
| Territory | chargé d'affaires |
|---|---|
| Slovak Republic | Giuseppe Burzio |
Some of Pius XII's nuncios in occupied Europe were forced to flee their nunciatures, includingClemente Micara in Belgium, internuncioPaolo Giobbe in The Netherlands, andCasimir Papée in Poland.[63] The nuncio to Luxembourg was similarly "overrun by German troops".[64] Micara and Giobbe eventually found their ways to Rome.[39] The Yugoslav and Romanian ambassadors also ended up in Rome but were told in 1944 to be ready to return at a moment's notice.[39] The Baltic nuncios in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were forced out by Russian troops.[65] Although the nunciosde jure retained their titles, their role was either terminated orde facto taken up byCesare Orsenigo, the nuncio to Germany.[64]
Thus, Pius XIi maintained only eight wartime nunciatures to European nations, in: France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland.[65] These were supplemented byapostolic delegates in Albania, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Turkey, and the United States.[65] Achargé d'affaires was created during the war to represent the newly createdSlovak Republic, and anapostolic visitor was sent to theNazi puppet state of Croatia.[65]
By June 15, 1940, there were no longer any Allied ambassadors residing in Italian territory (the norm for ambassadors to the Vatican): the Polish, French, and British ambassadors enteredVatican City proper; Nieuwenhuys initially declined Vatican protection on June 16 to flee toSwitzerland along with the Belgian ambassador to Italy, but decided to stay on June 18.[11][12] Italy was at war with France, Britain, South Africa, Canada, and New Zealand, and had severed diplomatic relations with Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, and Poland; of those, only France, Britain, Belgium, and Poland had resident ambassadors at the Vatican.[11]
The same protection was not extended toNiko Mirosevich, the Yugoslav Minister, when he was ousted by Italy in July 1941.[62] However, the ambassadors in the city-state were joined byHarold H. Tittmann, Jr, who remained aschargé d'affaires after Taylor's departure, after he was required to move into Vatican City by Italy on December 13, 1941.[55]
After the Allied occupation of Rome, the Allied ambassadors moved out of Vatican City and the Japanese, German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Slovak delegations moved into the city-state, escorted by US troops.[66] High-ranking NaziErnst von Weizsäcker and Mussolini's son-in-lawGaleazzo Ciano both became ambassadors to the Vatican in 1943; it was believed that von Weizsäcker's main job was to keep an eye on Ciano lest the pope assist Italy in negotiating a separate peace with the Allies.[67]
Morley'sVatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust (KTAV, 1980) is a comprehensive country-by-country study of Vatican diplomacy, using primary sources from the nuncios themselves up to the Cardinal Secretary of State and Pius XII himself.[68] Morley's study draws heavily on theADSS vols. 1–9, supplemented by documents from theCentre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine (Paris),British Foreign Office, Public Records Office (London),Institute for Jewish Affairs (London), theNuremberg Trials, theWorld Jewish Congress archives (New York), andYad Vashem (Jerusalem).[69] The central conclusion of Morley is as follows:
However, Morley does find a multitude of examples of Vatican diplomats protesting against the effects of racial laws onJews who converted to Catholicism before and during the Holocaust, as well as numerous interventions on their behalf.[70]
Pius defender William Doino, Jr., writes that critics find major flaws in Morley's work, such as that he blames Pius for not confronting the Nazis but then admits in other parts of the book that such confrontations did little good when they did occur; that he accuses the Vatican of being "too diplomatic" at times and too "acrimonious" at others; that he accuses Pius of failing to help unbaptized Jews but doesn't acknowledge when Pius did extend help to unbaptized Jews; and that generally he "dismisses a wealth of documentation and scholarship that contradicts his thesis," such as when he denigrates Pius's efforts to maintain diplomatic relations with Germany and fails to acknowledge that the Vatican's diplomatic status allowed Pius to keep in touch with the German resistance and pass vital information he received from Germany onto Allies.[71]
Pius XII allowedErnst von Weizsäcker, the former Nazi ambassador, to remain in Rome as a "guest" after Nazi Germany ceased to exist and he lost his status as an ambassador.[67] Similar status was accorded to formerVichy France ambassadorLéon Bérard, even after Pius XII receivedJacques Maritain as French ambassador in 1945.[67] von Weizsäcker was givenpolitical asylum for a time, although the Allies wished to charge him withwar crimes (he would eventually be convicted at Nuremberg).[72][73]
Ken Harada, the Japanese ambassador, remained in the Vatican "on much the same basis", while the Holy See protested that it had not yet received "official notification" from Gen.Douglas MacArthur that it should sever relations.[74] As he was no longer accredited to the Vatican, Harada was not allowed to participate in aNew Year's Day 1946 event, although Pius XII granted him a separate audience a few days later.[75] Harada was received in a final farewell audience on January 25, 1946, before being repatriated, following MacArthur's order discontinuing Japan's diplomatic service.[76]
After World War II relations were strained or cut with several Communist Eastern European nations. For example, there was noApostolic Nuncio to Poland between 1947 and 1989.
After the resignation of US presidential envoyMyron Charles Taylor in 1950, Truman struggled to replace Taylor. American Protestant leaders opposed the continuation of the mission (including Truman's own pastor,Edward Pruden), and the Vatican wanted a full ambassador, not another "personal envoy".[77] The appointment of GeneralMark Wayne Clark asUnited States Ambassador to the Holy See was withdrawn after a prolonged Senate fight.[78] Clark had been the Allied Commander in Italy, known for the bombing of the historic abbey ofMonte Cassino but also his triumphant entry into Rome in 1944.
As of 2002, no complete set of diplomatic papers has been published by any country with diplomatic relations with the Holy See during Pius XII's pontificate, although partial sets have been published in various works.[79] However, the outrage overRolf Hochhuth's 1963 playThe Deputy promptedPope Paul VI in 1964 to authorize the opening of Pius XII's diplomatic papers prior to the usual seventy-five year rule.[80] Four Jesuit Priests were allowed into the archives and eleven volumes,Actes et documents du Saint Siège relatifs à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale (ADSS), were published between 1965 and 1981, covering only the wartime years.[80]
Several diplomats at the Vatican wrote memoirs covering the period of Pius XII's pontificate, including the Free French ambassadorsFrançois Charles-Roux andWladimir d'Ormesson and Polish ambassadorCasimir Papée.[81] Others have had their wartime papers published, including German ambassadorErnst von Weizsäcker and British MinisterD'Arcy Osborne.[81] Osborne's papers formed the basis ofOwen Chadwick'sBritain and the Vatican during the Second World War (1988).[81]Wartime Correspondence Between President Roosevelt and Pope Pius XII was published in 2005 with a foreword and notes byMyron Charles Taylor.
The post-war papers ofAloisius Joseph Muench were also extensively preserved, and indexed at theCatholic University of America since 1976.[82] The documents are the subject of a 2006monograph by Dr. Suzanne Brown-Fleming, a fellow at theUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum'sCenter for Advanced Holocaust Studies.
.svg)