The Vatican Pimpernel

The First World War was a bitter episode for the Italian people. Indeed the experiences which the Italians had during that war and its immediate aftermath explain, more or less completely, the course of Italian history for the next 25 years. From the time they joined the war until its end, the Italian armies were in battle on the Austrian front displaying great heroism without gaining a hugely significant amount of ground. However, tragically, they lost 600,000 of their men in a three-year period. Despite the fact that they were on the victorious side, Italy gained very little from the outcome of the war. France and Britain divided the main spoils between them and Italy's only significant gain was a small piece of what had formerly been Austria. In addition, in 1921 when the US and Britain agreed to fix treaty limits on the size of the fleet which the various Allied powers were to operate, Italy was forced to accept limitations which resulted in an entitlement to the same naval strength in the Mediterranean as the British Royal Navy. Clearly this was a direct insult to Italian national pride.

Throughout this period Italy was fairly unsettled. There was a clear disparity between what Italians felt they were entitled to after the war as members of the victorious Allied side, most particularly in light of the huge level of human sacrifice involved for them, and what had been assigned to them. Veterans and their families and others, mainly in the working and lower middle classes, were deeply dissatisfied with this situation. In addition, it was a time of recession and unemployment and the rise of extreme nationalism. Strikes and rumours of revolution were the order of the day. These unsettled conditions proved to be an ideal breeding ground for the rise of Fascism. In 1922 the King, Victor Emmanuel III, invited Benito Mussolini, leader of the Fascist group, to form a government. Within four years, Mussolini had effectively become a dictator, outlawing all other political parties, undermining civil liberties and imposing a totalitarian regime. At the same time, he managed to gain popularity by propaganda, public works projects, and, most particularly, by creating the appearance of order.

In 1929 the Lateran Treaty was concluded between Mussolini's Government and the Papacy. In the eyes of the Italian people this gave Mussolini further status. Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty, that part of Rome which comprises the Vatican and St Peter's became an independent sovereign state governed by the Pope. In addition, the Treaty allowed for papal governance of extra-territorial properties belonging to the Catholic Church in various parts of the city, including the Basilicas of St John Lateran, St Paul and St Maria Maggiore, together with all the buildings connected with them. Other properties included the offices of the Propagation of the Faith and of the Holy Office near St Peter's and the papal residence at Castelgandolfo. This essentially gave these buildings the same status as a foreign embassy has nowadays. The entire extent of the Vatican City itself is 108 acres and it is wholly contained in Rome, making it the smallest state in the world. The usual population based in the Vatican is approximately 500. Besides Pope Pius XII, the other senior officials in the Vatican when the Second World War started were Cardinal Maglione, Secretary of State, and his two assistants, Monsignor Montini, Under Secretary for Ordinary Affairs (essentially internal Vatican/ Church matters) and Monsignor Tardini, Under Secretary for Extraordinary Affairs (essentially external issues). Monsignor Montini afterwards became Pope Paul VI.

Given the origins of the movement, it is not surprising that the Fascist Government adopted an expansionist foreign policy based on aggression. As early as 1919, at the foundation of the Fascist Movement, Mussolini was articulating the case that Italy needed more territory for her growing population. In 1935–6 the Italian army invaded and conquered Ethiopia and also in 1936 Italy sent troops to support Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Later that year Mussolini and Hitler established the Rome–Berlin Axis. In 1939 Italy took over Albania, and the two dictators, Hitler and Mussolini, concluded a military alliance known as the Pact of Steel. This agreement was signed on 22 May causing great concern to those within the Vatican who viewed any close relationship between Italy and Hitler as dangerous.

The war between Britain and France on the one hand, and Germany on the other, began on 3 September 1939. Serious efforts which were already under way in the US and Great Britain to keep Italy out of any war were immediately accelerated. The then American President, Roosevelt, was already acquainted with the Pope. Pope Pius XII, when he was a Cardinal, had visited the US in November 1936. At that stage there were no formal diplomatic links between the US and the Holy See, but Roosevelt sent the Ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy, as a Special Envoy of the President to the Coronation Ceremony when the then Cardinal Pacelli became Pope in March 1939. This was the first time an American President had been represented at such an occasion. (As it happens, a future American President was there also, as John Fitzgerald Kennedy attended with his father.) President Roosevelt had concluded that, in the event of war, establishing some sort of working relationship with the Holy See might prove useful. The Vatican at that time had representatives in a total of 72 countries throughout the world from which it could gather significant information. In addition, 38 countries had official representation at the Holy See. The President decided to go ahead with establishing this link but it left him with a political problem. If he decided to send an official representative in the normal way, it would require a vote in the Houses of Congress to provide the necessary funds. It was doubtful that he would be successful in this because there was a strong feeling then current in the US of the need to separate church and state. In public relations terms, while the decision of the President would be popular with Catholic voters, it would alienate Protestants. As a way around this problem he decided to send a personal representative of himself as distinct from an envoy of the US Government. To obviate the need for funding, which could be provided only by a favourable vote in Congress, he needed to find a man who would require no payment. The President identified Myron Taylor as just such a man. At that stage, Taylor was President of the United States Steel Corporation. He was an Episcopalian and had a keen interest in the role of churches and churchmen in contributing to the moral order. He also had a knowledge of, and interest in, Italy and already owned property near Florence.