Pius XII by Gerard Noel

Author:Gerard Noel [Noel, Gerard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Italy, General
ISBN: 9781441132611
Google: ZLNGKcRwdfYC
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2010-01-06T22:28:32+00:00

Chapter 12

‘Ecclesiastical Lust’

Wars are fought with money, no less than with soldiers and weapons. It was obvious to Pacelli that the Church was also fighting a war, not just for the hearts and minds of Catholics of all countries but for its continued independence and, perhaps, its very existence. Throughout the 1930s, he had viewed Hitler and Mussolini as Fascist rat-catchers who were keeping the communist vermin at bay. However, with the outbreak of hostilities the political landscape had become very much more complex and frightening. France, one of the most long-standing Catholic countries in Europe, was at war with the Vatican’s ‘allies’, as defined by the Reich concordat and the Lateran Treaty. A shifting political landscape demanded that the Vatican ‘punch above its weight’ on the world stage.

Soon after Pacelli took over from Ratti, he discovered a shocking secret hidden away in his predecessor’s confidential files. The New York archdiocese, the most powerful in the Church apart from the Vatican, was more than 28 million dollars in debt. Furthermore it was a debt that was increasing rapidly, by the day. As we have seen, the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church had been saved from bankruptcy by the Lateran Treaty in the 1930s. Now it was facing another financial crisis – ironically, in the richest country in the world.

For 18 years, New York’s archbishop had been a certain Cardinal Hayes. He had earned the soubriquet ‘The Cardinal of Charity’, by his willingness to help the needy from Church funds. On one occasion Bishop Spellman, Pacelli’s confidant, had mentioned to him that throughout the 1930s, he had seen queues of supplicants standing outside Cardinal Hayes’ house. The old man hadn’t the heart to turn anyone away.

Now he had died, leaving behind a financial crisis of staggering proportions. (Twenty-eight million dollars then would be a vast sum today.)

New York Catholics, accustomed to Hayes’ largesse, wanted another ‘Cardinal of Charity’. Bishop Stephen Donahue, Hayes’ protégé , seemed the obvious candidate. But to Pius XI the indiscriminate handout policy had been a disaster, to be terminated forthwith and never allowed to recur. And he had his own nominee, Archbishop John McNicholas of Cincinnati, a generous benefactor to the Vatican. The papers for the McNicholas appointment were actually on the Pope’s desk awaiting signature when he died.

‘Bishop Spellman has told me that President Roosevelt does not like Excellency McNicholas’, Pacelli confided in Pasqualina. ‘He [McNicholas] has been preaching against Roosevelt’s ‘‘peace propaganda’’, which he feels could lead America into war, and he has even urged Catholics to form ‘‘a mighty league of conscientious non-combatants’’.’1

Pacelli’s visit to America had been the crowning triumph of his career as Secretary of State. Coughlin, ‘the radio priest’, had been silenced. The prestige of the Church had soared. Important diplomatic links had been made with Roosevelt. All of these achievements had been enhanced by Spellman’s behindthe-scenes facilitation, not least with the American President.

‘Bishop Spellman is President Roosevelt’s favourite holy personage’, Pasqualina declared. ‘That is simply because His Excellency has the mind and tact to appreciate the delicacies required in conversing with a man like the President.

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