Prisoner of the Vatican

Home > Other > Prisoner of the Vatican > Page 41
Prisoner of the Vatican Page 41

by David I. Kertzer


  14. He first telegraphed his nuncio in Paris with an account of the disorders, instructing him: "See that this is published in the Catholic newspapers, and send this telegram in code to the offices of Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon, and Munich, for it is not prudent to telegraph them directly from Rome" (ASV, SS, EM, a. 1882, r. 241, fasc. 3, f. lov, 13 luglio 1881).

  15. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1882, r. 241, fasc. 3, ff. 13v–16r, prot. 45390, circolare, 15 luglio 1881. Leo XIII's attitude is described by the French ambassador to the Holy See: MAES, v. 1070, ff. 255r–259r, Desprez à Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 18 Juillet 1881. Catholic newspapers inside Italy were similarly using the funeral debacle to demonstrate that their characterization of the pope as a prisoner of the Vatican was not an exaggeration. As Veneto Cattolico, Venice's Catholic paper, put it: "the savage scenes of last night demonstrate to the whole world that where the Revolution has implanted itself by force, the popes are necessarily condemned to perpetual imprisonment" (quoted in "Stampa italiana," L'Osservatore Romano, 16 luglio 1881, p. 2).

  16. DDI, series 2, vol. 14, n. 102, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Mancini, agli Ambasciatori a Berlino, de Launay, a Londra, Menabrea, a Pietroburgo, Nigra, a Vienna, di Robilant, ai Ministri a Bruxelles, Fe' d'Ostiani, a l'Aja, Bertinatti, a Lisbona, Oldoini, a Madrid, Greppi, e agli Incaricati d'Affari a Parigi, Marochetti, e a Berna, Riva, 15 luglio 1881.

  17. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1882, r. 241, fasc. 3, ff. 143v–144r, Nunzio Vienna a Jacobini, 21 luglio 1881.

  18. MAES, v. 1070, ff. 292r–293v, 23 Juillet 1881, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères à Desprez.

  19. DDI, series 2, v. 14, n. 112, LAmbasciatore a Berlino, de Launay, al Ministero degli Esteri, Mancini, 24 luglio 1881. Throughout Europe, bishops were sending denunciatory letters to the priests in their dioceses to read to their congregations, aimed against the Italian government. In one case, the primate of Spain, Cardinal Moreno, after recounting what happened to the funeral procession, concluded: "This is the reason that the Church so insistently calls for temporal power for the Holy See, now more necessary than ever for the free exercise of spiritual power ... In Rome there cannot be any sovereign other than the pope ... The Papal States belong to the Catholic world" (dated 16 July 1881, reproduced in "Il trasporto della salma di Pio IX, l'episcopato cattolico," L'Osservatore Romano, 31 luglio 1881, p. 2).

  20. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1882, r. 241, fasc. 2, if. 117V–121V, circolare ai nunzi, 27 luglio 1881.

  21. "Conseguenze," L'Osservatore Romano, 4 agosto 1881, p. 2.

  22. Manfroni 1920, vol. 2, pp. 58–59.

  23. MAEI, v. 64, ff. 201r–202r, Noailles à M. St. Hilaire, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 3 août 1881; DDI, series 2, v. 14, n. 134, L'ambasciatore a Vienna, di Robilant, al Ministro degli Esteri, Mancini, 4 agosto 1881.

  24. Isastia 1989, pp. 37–52; Chadwick 1997, p. 377; Della Peruta 1989, pp. 104–9.

  25. Perodi 1980, p. 431.

  26. Fonzi 1977, pp. 60–61.

  27. For a selection of Alberto Mario's anticlerical writings, see Mario 1867,1964.

  28. ASV, SS, EM, 1882, r. 241, fasc. 3, ff. 176v–176r, Comizio tenuto nel Politeama Romano il 7 agosto 1881, allegato alla Circolare ai Nunzii, 8 agosto 1881; MAES, v. 1071, ff. 43r- 45r, de Bâcourt à M. Barthélémy St. Hilaire, Ministère des Affaires étrangères, 8 août 1881. On the confiscation of L'Osservatore Romano, see "Il sequestro dell'Osservatore Romano," L'Osservatore Romano, 10 agosto 1881, p. 1; on the other newspaper confiscations, see Talamo 1979, p. 83. The Vatican lost no time in bringing these new outrages to the world's attention. The day after the Politeama meeting, Cardinal Jacobini sent a circular to all the nuncios with a detailed account attached. The calls for the end of the law of guarantees and, indeed, for the seizure of the Vatican, the secretary of state reported, had been met by the feeblest of government reactions. They had only stopped the meeting after it was largely completed, and they had only confiscated the Roman newspapers that reported the speeches after most of the copies had been sold. The Holy Father had been declared a liar, he had been repeatedly referred to as "Signor Pecci" and called an enemy of the people. "Thus is the dignity and security of the Pontiff protected in Rome." The nuncios were instructed to bring the matter to the attention of the governments at which they were stationed in order to make clear "the Holy Father's true condition and how well founded his apprehensions are." The nuncios were also told to give the material to the Catholic press in each country (ASV, SS, EM, 1882, r. 241, fasc. 3, ff. 176v–176r, Circolare ai Nunzii, 8 agosto 1881; f. 178V, Jacobini al nunzio, Parigi, 8 agosto 1881). Mancini, knowing just what use the Vatican would want to make of the Politeama events, sent a telegram on the evening of the eighth to all the Italian ambassadors in Europe. He wrote, he explained, to correct erroneous accounts of what had transpired. Various violent speeches against the law of guarantees had been made, but when a motion was read that not only called for the abolition of the guarantees but advocated the occupation of the Apostolic palaces, "an officer of public safety, following instructions given him by his superiors, immediately dissolved the assembly without having to resort to force. The city remained entirely calm." The lesson to be drawn from the events was clear: "The government has thus demonstrated that it is fully committed to reconciling its scrupulous respect for the freedom of assembly with the absolute protection for the freedom and the guarantees of the Sovereign Pontiff. Newspapers using the occasion of the meeting to publish articles offensive to the pope were immediately seized and brought before the court for action" (DDI, series 2, v. 14, n. 141, 8 agosto 1881).

  14. Rumors of a French Conspiracy

  1. Cornold, Giovanni, "La notte del 13 luglio in Roma," Civiltà Cattolica 1881, III, pp. 264–65.

  2. This quotation is from correspondence cited in Chadwick 1997, pp. 374–79.

  3. Ciampani 2000, pp. 264–66.

  4. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1882, r.241, fasc. 3, ff. 162v–163r, nunzio Vienna a Jacobini, 29 luglio 1881.

  5. Civiltà Cattolica, 1881, III, Cronaca contemporanea, pp. 624–26; "Via da Roma!," L'Osservatore Romano, 20 luglio 1881, p. 2.

  6. MAES, CP, vol. 1071, St. Hilaire à M. de Bâcourt, chargé d'affaires de France, Saint Siège, 14 août 1881.

  7. Chadwick 1997, p. 380; Duggan 2000, pp. 502–3; Giordano 1994, p. 38. The text of the first Triple Alliance agreements can be found in Anchieri 1959. For a discussion of some of the reasons that Bismarck decided to back a treaty with Italy at this time, see Pflanze 1990, p. 93.

  8. MAEI, CP, vol. 64, ff. 254r–255v, Noailles à M. St. Hilaire, 15 août 1881.

  9. ASR, Questura, b. 16, fasc. 106, 26 agosto 1881, Notizie sul Vaticano. Pilgrimages to Rome had of course a very long history, but with the pronouncement of papal infallibility, the taking of Rome, and the centrality of the image of the prisoner of the Vatican, the nature of these pilgrimages changed from one that focused on visiting the major churches to the desire to see the pope himself. At the same time, the advent of the train and other improvements in transportation made such trips much easier and less expensive (Papenheim 2001, pp. 141–42).

  10. MAEI, CP, vol. 65, if. 43r–46r, Reverseaux à M. St. Hilaire, 17 octobre 1881.

  11. These deliberations are discussed in Ciampani 2000, pp. 212–16.

  12. MAEI, CP, vol. 65, ff. 211r–214r, Audience du roi, à M. le Président du Conseil, 27 novembre 1881.

  13. MAEI, CP, vol. 65, ff. 322r–322v, Reverseaux à M. Gambetta, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères (telegram), 26 décembre 1881; ff. 323r–327r, Reverseaux à M. Gambetta, Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, 26 décembre 1881; ff. 328r–329r, Tamburini à M. de Reverseaux, Livourne, 22 décembre 1881.

  14. DDI, series 2, vol. 14, n. 348, L'Incaricato d'affari a Berlino, Tugini, al Minstro degli Esteri, Mancini, 3 dicembre 1881. Diplomatic relations between Germany and the Vatican would, in fact, be reestablished in April 1882 (Aubert 1972, p. 37).

  15. MAES, CP, vol. 1071, ff. 340r–345v, Desprez à M. Gambetta, Discours du Pape aux Cardinaux, c
a. 26 décembre 1881.

  16. Matteo Liberatore, "La condizione del pontefice in forza dell'occupazione di Roma," Civiltà Cattolica 1882,1, pp. 257–68.

  15. Preparing for Exile

  1. Ciampani 2000, pp. 298–300; Ticchi 2001, pp. 367–72.

  2. Not long after the secretary of state assured the other cardinals of Franz Josef's renewed invitation for the pope to take up residence on Austrian soil, the Austrian foreign minister, Kalnóky, pleaded with the Italian ambassador to Austria, Di Robilant, for Italy to do everything possible to keep the pope from wanting to go. In his report to the Italian foreign minister, Di Robilant recounted that, out of the blue, the Austrian had raised his concerns about the danger that the Holy Father might soon decide to leave Rome. Trying to calm his fears, Di Robilant told him that there was little prospect of such a move, reminding him of words attributed to Pius IX: "You don't change an old horse's stable." He added that even if the pope wanted to go, "it could hardly be clearer that no State seeks the honor of hosting the Holy Father ... beginning with Austria!" Kalnóky, the Italian ambassador reported, agreed, "but nonetheless wanted once again to say that despite everything, the possibility in question could not be excluded and that the Italian Government ought not to lose sight of this." Di Robilant, on reflection, agreed: "There is no doubt," he wrote to the Italian minister for foreign affairs, "that the Holy Father's departure from Rome would produce a shock in the Catholic world that at the very least would create considerable embarrassment for the Italian Government, a result that might turn out to be decisive in the Pontiff's decision" (DDI, series 2, vol. 17–18, n. 159, L'ambiasciatore a Vienna, Di Robilant, al Ministro degli Esteri, Mancini, 8 aprile 1884).

  3. They were, in order, Monaco La Valletta, Simeoni, Ludovico Jacobini, Nina, Parocchi, and Laurenzi.

  4. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1060, fasc. 341, ff. ir–13r, Motu proprio del'S. P. Leone XIII, del 25 agosto 1884. The individual letters to the cardinals are to be found in the following pages, "Persone presso cui sono custodite le disposizioni pontificie riguardo al futuro Conclave ed al caso di impedita comunicazione dei fedeli col Capo della Chiesa," ff. 38r–54r. The instructions on the protection and care of the Vatican palaces, "Leo XIII Al Marchese Urbano Sacchetti Foriere maggiore dei sacri Palazzi Apostolici," are found at ff. 67r–73r.

  5. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1070, fasc. 343, ff. 6r–10v, Relazione sull'attuale condizione a cui sono ridotti la Santa Sede e il Sommo Pontefice in Roma.

  6. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1070, fasc. 343, ff. 13r–34v, Osservazioni in proposito fatte da un Cardinale.

  7. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1070, fasc. 344, ff. 37r–86v, per incarico della Commissione, Parere del Rev. P. Graniello sull'allontanamento del Papa da Roma in caso di guerra, 1887.

  8. The Graniello report was discussed at a series of meetings: AAEESS, SE, pos. 1070, fasc. 344, ff. 9r–12r Seduta del 14 febbraio 1887; ff. 12r–22r, 18 febbraio 1887; ff. 22r–26r, Seduta del 23 febbraio 1887; ff. 27r–29v, Seduta del 26 febbraio 1887; ff. 30v–33r, Seduta del 12 marzo 1887; ff. 35r–36r, Seduta del 12 marzo 1887.

  16. Hopes Dashed

  1. Trincia 2001, p. 48.

  2. Procacci 1929, pp. 8–9. Trincia 2001, pp. 51, 47.

  3. Jemolo 1965, pp. 72–74; Fonzi 1990, p. 285; Procacci 1929, p. 31.

  4. Fonzi 1990, pp. 171–72. Back in 1882, Depretis, the prime minister, had secretly floated the idea of offering the pope a strip of land that ran from the Vatican all the way to the sea; there the Holy See would enjoy a certain degree of immunity while the territory would technically remain under Italian sovereignty. But, with the Vatican's anger over Pius IX's chaotic funeral procession still fresh, discussions got nowhere (Marongiu Bonaiuti 1971, p. 81).

  5. Manfroni 1920, p. 156.

  6. Procacci 1929, pp. 59–60.

  7. Procacci 1929, pp. 46–47.

  8. "Un dubbio ragionevole," L'Osservatore Romano, 19 maggio 1887, p. 1.

  9. Procacci 1929, pp. 64–66. The text of the allocution is found in L'Osservatore Romano, 26 maggio 1887, p. 1. The reaction is found in "L'Allocuzione pontificia," L'Osservatore Romano, 28 maggio 1887, p. 1, with further commentary about the need for the return of temporal power, and Rome, to the pope three days later (31 May 1887, p. 1).

  10. Procacci 1929, pp. 72–77.

  11. Procacci 1929, pp. 85–86.

  12. Duggan 2000, pp. 584–85.

  13. L'Osservatore Romano, 5 giugno 1887, p. 1.

  14. Procacci 1929, pp. 88–92. Yet it is worth noting that, in his memoirs, Manfroni (1920, vol. 2, p. 157) insists that he had heard from a reliable Vatican informant—who had himself seen the draft—that the pope had read Tosti's work before publication and had approved of it.

  15. Procacci 1929, pp. 67–68.

  16. Trincia 2001, p. 84.

  17. Trincia 2001, pp. 50, 86.

  18. Trincia 2001, pp. 79–80.

  19. Procacci 1929, p. 43; Candeloro 1953, p. 209.

  20. An authorized (hagiographic) biography of Rampolla was written by Monsignor G. Pietro Sinopoli di Giunta (1923). On Rampolla, see also Aubert 1990a, pp. 91–92.

  21. In April 1887, he confided in the Prussian ambassador to the Holy See, "I would never accept a politically dominating secretary of state, as Consalvi was for Pius VII or as Cardinal Antonelli was for Pius IX. I myself am my own Prime Minister and I seek a secretary of state who attends to routine business, the formalities, and daily matters" (Trincia 2001, p. 25).

  22. Trincia 2001, p. 90.

  23. Trincia 2001, p. 35.

  24. Valenti 1977, p. 38.

  25. Duggan 2000, pp. 586–87; Jemolo 1965, pp. 76—77; Adorni 1999.

  26. Mola has written a biography of Lemmi and a history of the Freemasons in Italy (1985, 2001). On the Freemasons and Lemmi in this period, see also Lyttleton 1983.

  27. Grande Oriente della Massoneria in Italia e nelle colonie italiane, circolare n. 30, 20 gennaio 1882, found in AAEESS, SE, pos. 389, fasc. 132, ff. 33v–34r.

  28. Mola 1985, pp. 205–6, Lemmi a Crispi, 6 novembre 1887.

  29. De Rosa 1970, p. 140; Procacci 1929, pp. 118–23; Fonzi 1962, p. 190. So worried were the French that Leo XIII might be negotiating secretly with the Italians that months later, in mid-August, long after the Vatican had publicly abandoned the reconciliation efforts, the French foreign minister continued to press the papal nuncio in Paris for assurances that the matter was dead. Rampolla, informed of the French worry, told the nuncio: "Nothing has happened in the Holy See's policies that could justify the fears being expressed with such insistence" (Rampolla's letter of 22 agosto 1887 is reproduced in Mori 1974, p. 37).

  30. Cornély 1888, pp. 27–29.

  31. L'Osservatore Romano (27 luglio 1887, p. 1) was explicit about the intended audience: "The Pope's letter ... is not only directed to Cardinal Rampolla, the primary person responsible for executing the pontifical plans, it is directed to all honest Italians." See also the comments of Jemolo 1965, p. 78.

  32. "Lettera di S. S. Papa Leone XIII al Cardinale Mariano Rampolla suo segretario di stato," L'Osservatore Romano, 26 luglio 1887, pp. 1–2.

  33. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 6r–7v, Card. Mariano Rampolla al nunzio apostolico di Vienna, 17 luglio 1887. At the same time Rampolla sent a long letter to all the nuncios with a similar message: ignore any newspaper reports to the contrary; the pope must regain temporal power. The full text is reproduced in Sinopoli di Giunta 1923, pp. 181–86. Tosti himself was finally forced to write a full apology for his booklet, which was published in L'Osservatore Romano on July 28 (p. 3). The Vatican paper charged that publication of the work had hurt the pope deeply.

  17. The Bishops' Lament

  1. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 18r–38v, Relazione di Mons. Della Chiesa sulla missione compiuta.

  2. Santangelo 1976, p. 207; Moscati 1964, pp. no, 145–46.

  3. The description of Crispi is by the French journalist Jacques Saint-Cère, quoted in Duggan 2000, p. 567.

  4. Duggan 2002, p. 476. />
  5. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 40r–40v, Rampolla all'Arcivescovo di Palermo, 9 agosto 1887; ff. 42r–43r, Arcivescovo di Palermo a Rampolla, 21 agosto 1887.

  6. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 347, ff. 6r–8r, Istruzioni ai Vescovi d'Italia, n.d.

  7. This is a paraphrase of the conversation described by the papal envoy.

  8. The report of the papal envoy's visits is found in AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 347, ff. 10r–51v. These last quotations are paraphrases, drawn from this report.

  18. Fears of a European War

  1. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 60r–61r, Rampolla al Nunzio Apostolico, Vienna, 15 settembre 1887.

  2. Trincia 2001, p. 90.

  3. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 92r–93r, Rampolla al Nunzio Apostolico, Parigi, 7 ottobre 1887.

  4. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 94r–95v, Nunzio Apostolico, Parigi, a Rampolla, 10 ottobre 1887.

  5. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 346, ff. 98r–101v, Nunzio Apostolico, Parigi, a Rampolla, 19 ottobre 1887.

  6. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 347, ff. 63r–65v, Paris, 18 octobre 1887.

  7. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 347, ff. 57r–59r, Rampolla a Galimberti, 1 novembre 1887.

  8. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 347, ff. 60r–61v, Galimberti a Rampolla, n.d. (early November 1887).

  9. Procacci 1929, pp. 40–42.

  10. DDI, series 2, vol. 21, n. 231, L'incaricato d'Affari a Vienna, Avarna, al Presidente del Consiglio e Ministro degli Esteri ad Interim, Crispi, 16 ottobre 1887; n. 336, Il Presidente del Consiglio e Ministro degli Esteri ad Interim, Crispi, all'ambasciatore a Vienna, Nigra, 23 novembre 1887.

  11. AAEESS, SE, pos. 1075, fasc. 347, ff. 701–71 r, Galimberti a Rampolla, 17 febbraio, 1888. Three months earlier, in his direct report to the pope, Galimberti had notified him that the leaders of both Germany and Austria believed that war was imminent and would begin no later than the spring of 1888 (Galimberti a Leone XIII, 18 novembre 1887, document 9 in Trincia 2001, p. 156).

  Later the same month, a major Austrian newspaper published an article claiming that the recent secret treaty between Austria and Italy included a clause ensuring that "the question of [the pope's] temporal dominion had been buried." Leo asked his secretary of state to demand clarification. Kalnóky, in Vienna, denied the report, blaming it on French intrigue. (AAEESS, SE, pos. 1091, fasc. 358, ff. 10r–13v, Galimberti a Rampolla, 27 febbraio 1888; ff. 18r–2or, Lettre confidentielle, Comunicata al Segretario di Stato dal Conte Paar Ambasciatore Austro-Ungarico per incarico del Cte. Kalnoky, 1 mars 1888.)

 

‹ Prev