Papal Diplomacy
524 THE COMMONWEAL October 7, 1925 writer for the times. Georges Sorel, in his Ecroulement du Monde Ancien, has written some illuminating chapters upon this phase in the last days of the...
...From the moment it came to be associated in the public mind with exploitation rather than industry, he notes a declining esteem in the popular mind that was of immense importance not only in the spread of the Christian cooperative ideal, but also in a waning enthusiasm for the defense of a plutocratic empire...
...Certainly we do not desire that the rights of the Hebrew population be attacked but we do believe that they should in no manner be preferred to the legitimate rights of Christians...
...the British government was very slow in giving back their property to the various religious houses...
...It was the Zionist movement, however, which caused the greatest anxiety and the most trouble...
...Things began to look so ominous in the Orient that, during June of 1921, Benedict XV felt constrained to declare—"The condition of the Christian population in Palestine has not only not been improved, but it has been made worse by a civil authority which in reality—though perhaps not in accordance with the desire of those who established it—is attempting to drive Christians from positions hitherto occupied by them and to install Jews...
...Nothing calls for a more cautious and circumspect handling than any inquiry into the merits and demerits of poverty and riches...
...PAPAL DIPLOMACY P>ART second of Friedrich Ritter von Lama's history ¦*• of recent papal diplomacy (part first of which was discussed in The Commonweal of September 23) treats of three historical developments of great importance...
...Nationalist rivalries began to figure prominently in even the ecclesiastical affairs of the Orient, important prelates hastened to make a journey eastward in the interests of their respective countries, and sometimes threatened to render impossible the neutrality of the Vatican...
...When British troops entered Jerusalem on December 12, 1917, the event was celebrated by ringing all the bells of Rome excepting those of the Pope's own church, Saint Peter's...
...Under the shadow of the Jewish University, built on the Mount of Olives, a young congregation—called "Opera Cardinal Ferrari"—has opened an institution of higher learning in Jerusalem...
...Therefore, as soon as possible after peace had come, the progress of Zionism began...
...During 1917 Lord Balfour had stipulated (probably in exchange for financial assistance given the British arms) that, in accordance with an agreement among the Allies, Palestine would become a home for the Jewish nation under a Jewish government...
...Our historian gives a thorough and succinct survey of the part played by the Vatican in the disposition of Palestine...
...But though two of these—the Versailles peace negotiations and the activity of revolutionary Germany— provided an opportunity for conciliatory action on the part of the Holy See, von Lama has little to say about them that is not already comparatively well known...
...On the whole, its efforts were successful, even if the sacred room of the Last Supper did not revert into Christian hands—as had been hoped—and the defense of Christian populations in the Near East could not be guaranteed...
...But the fateful post-war policy continues, and von Lama is justified in saying, by way of a conclusion—"For the sake of money, the Entente powers sold the holy land of Jesus Christ to His enemies, whose government is a challenge...
...Subsequent events proved only too fully the rightness of the Cardinal's views...
...Questioned upon the significance of this silence, Cardinal Gasparri called the attention of the unofficial French ambassador to certain facts...
...The powers assembled at San Remo in 1920, agreed that the rights of the Arab natives should be respected and that the protectorate over Catholic religious orders, maintained so long by France, should cease...
...All of this was done in the interest of peace, but the Vatican spoke firmly on behalf of Catholic rights and legitimate Catholic aspirations...
...In the second place, the Allied governments had made no declaration of their aims in Palestine, and the Holy See—knowing as it did that the Zionist movement was in the offing—saw no reason why the march of General Allenby should be compared with the victories of Godfrey de Bouillon...
...On behalf of Christendom, only the Holy Father has spoken...
...But since affairs have not yet been definitely regulated in Palestine, we raise our Voice now so that when the moment arrives for making a permanent disposition, the inalienable rights of the Catholic Church and of Christians in that country will be respected...
...But it remains only too true that neither peace nor justice has hurried to the Near East under the present regime...
...Furthermore, both Lord Balfour and Sir Herbert Samuel pledged the protection of Great Britain for all "historically established" property rights in Palestine...
...The Vatican has done what it could under the circumstances...
...and the Sacred Congregation, in order to preserve order and forestall friction, made the departure of religious to the Holy Land dependent upon special permission...
...Georges Sorel, in his Ecroulement du Monde Ancien, has written some illuminating chapters upon this phase in the last days of the Roman empire...
...In the first place, the Holy See had frequently been summoned to mediate between the Turkish government and the representatives of various Christian peoples and it had often succeeded, through the instrumentality of its delegate, in bettering conditions in the Near East...
...In the end, the League of Nations respected the attitude of the Vatican and at present the commission which regulates the affairs of religious orders in Palestine is subject to the approval of the Council of the League...
...The third is of especial interest just now when new Turkish massacres are threatened in the Near East, and when the entire British policy is being tested by the Mosul incidents...
Vol. 2 • October 1925 • No. 22
