2014-06-24 14:08:00

The Holy See at the outbreak of the First World War


(Vatican Radio) When the First World War broke out in 1914 what was the situation regarding the Holy See’s relations with the powers at war?

Historian Professor John Pollard tells Veronica Scarisbrick how at the time of  Saint Pius X  the relations of the Holy See  with the powers of the time were very  limited. The only powers to enjoy relations, he remarks, were on the one side  Russia and on the other Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Listen: 

Asked by Veronica Scarisbrick what diplomatic tools he believes the Holy See had at the time in terms of peace building and whether the papacy might have had any influence on the international scenario, Professor Pollard explains how Vatican diplomacy was at its lowest point in 1914. 

A situation says Professor Pollard, the successor to Saint Pius X, who was a diplomat to his fingertips, even though he’d been Bishop of Bologna for six or seven years had to face up to. He was Giacomo della Chiesa who took the name Benedict XV upon his election on September 3, 1914.

This second pope elected in the twentieth century, Professor Pollard says, found himself with the task of re-establishing the diplomatic ties the Holy See had previously possessed. What changed the Holy See’s diplomatic position was the war itself as Benedict XV met with the desire in a special way on the part of of Britain, France and Belgium to engage in that relationship.








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