The German Reception of the [Papal] Peace Note [1917]

Benedict XV A Pope in the World of the ‘Useless Slaughter’ (1914–1918) BENEDICT XV A POPE IN THE WORLD OF THE ‘USELESS SLAUGHTER’ (1914–1918) Volume 2 Directed by Alberto Melloni Edited by Giovanni Cavagnini and Giulia Grossi F © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. Translated from Italian by Susan Dawson Vásquez & David Dawson Vásquez. © 2020, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. 2 volumes D/2020/0095/225 ISBN 978-2-503-58289-4 eISBN 978-2-503-58290-0 DOI 10.1484/M.STR-EB.5.116417 Printed in the EU on acid-free paper. Table of Contents Volume 1 Abbreviations 15 Foreword Cardinal Pietro Parolin 19 Introduction Alberto Melloni 27 Part One Stages Origins and Formation Genoa: A Capital between Savoyard Annexation and the Risorgimento Nicla Buonasorte 35 The Genoese Aristocracy from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries: Traces of the Della Chiesa Family Federica Meloni 53 The Migliorati and the Ancestry of Innocent VII Anna Falcioni 69 Giacomo Raggi of Genoa, Capuchin Friar, and the Vocation of Giacomo Della Chiesa Aldo Gorini 81 Formation and Studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Genoa Nicla Buonasorte 93 The Students of the Almo Collegio Capranica at the Time of Rector Francesco Vinciguerra Maurilio Guasco © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 103 858 ta bl e o f co n t e n t s A Diplomat of Leo XIII From Minutante to Sostituto in the Papal Secretariat of State Klaus Unterburger 111 Controversies at the Top: Merry del Val, Della Chiesa, Pius X (1883–1907) Annibale Zambarbieri 121 Rampolla, Della Chiesa, Benedict XV Jean-Marc Ticchi 147 The Bologna Episcopate Giacomo Della Chiesa’s First Pastoral Letter to Bologna Giovanni Turbanti 165 Culture and Catholic Associations in Bologna in the Pre-War Period (1908–14) Marcello Malpensa 185 Archbishop Giacomo Della Chiesa Facing the Italo-Turkish War (1911–12) Alessandro Santagata 207 The Beginning of the Pontificate The Conclave of Benedict XV (1914) Alberto Melloni 225 The First Encyclical: Ad beatissimi Caterina Ciriello 243 Ideas of War, Ideas of Peace Churches in War, Faith under Fire Frédéric Gugelot 263 Religion in War and the Legitimization of Violence Lucia Ceci 285 Italian Military Chaplains and the ‘Useless Slaughter’ Andrea Crescenzi 303 Pope Benedict XV and Pacifism: ‘An Invincible Phalanx for Peace?’ Gearóid Barry 319 tab le o f co nt e nt s Interventionism and Neutrality in Italy The Extremist Neutrality of Guido Miglioli Claudia Baldoli 339 Italian Foreign Politics at the Dawn of Benedict XV’s Pontificate Michele Marchi 355 ‘In pro della pace’: Benedict XV’s Diplomatic Steps to Prevent Italy’s Intervention in the Great War Maurizio Cau 373 Catholic Interventionism Guido Formigoni 391 Diplomacy through Aid Benedict XV: Aid to Belgium Jan De Volder 407 Benedict XV and the Armenian Question Georges-Henri Ruyssen 417 Aid to the Syrians (1916–17): A Failure Florence Hellot-Bellier 439 The International Committee of the Red Cross, the Vatican and Prisoners of War Mara Dissegna 459 Neutral Switzerland: The Hospitalization of the Wounded and the Credit Owed to Carlo Santucci Stefano Picciaredda 479 The Note of 1917 The Papal Peace Note of 1917: Proposals for Armaments, Arbitration, Sanctions and Damages Alfredo Canavero 501 Reshaping Borders: Europe and the Colonies in Pope Benedict XV’s 1917 Peace Note Patrick J. Houlihan 523 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 8 59 860 ta bl e o f co n t e n t s The Italian and French Bishops Dealing with the Note of 1917 Giovanni Cavagnini 533 The Note of 1 August 1917 and Its Failure Xavier Boniface 555 Part Two Problems The Missions Cardinal Willem van Rossum, Benedict XV and the Centralization of the Pontifical Missionary Works in Rome (1918–22) Vefie Poels and Hans de Valk 575 The Roncalli–Drehmanns Mission to the French and German Offices for Missionary Work (1921) Stefano Trinchese 591 Maximum illud, a Missionary Turning Point? Claude Prudhomme 609 The ‘Chinese’ Missionary Policy of the Holy See before Costantini Giuseppe Butturini 629 The Re-Dimensioning of Anti-Modernism ‘A Kind of Freemasonry in the Church’: The Dissolution of the Sodalitium Pianum Alejandro Mario Dieguez 653 Transformations of Integralist Catholicism under Benedict XV: Benigni’s Network after the Dissolution of La Sapinière Nina Valbousquet 673 Modernism during the Pontificate of Benedict XV: Between Rehabilitation and Condemnation Giovanni Vian 691 Benedict XV and Modernism in Germany Klaus Unterburger 707 tab le o f co nt e nt s Votes for Women and ‘Catholic Feminism’ during the Pontificate of Benedict XV Liviana Gazzetta 717 The View of the People of Israel Benedict XV: The ‘Children of Israel’ and the ‘Members of Different Religious Confessions’ Raffaella Perin 739 The Birth of Vatican Policy on Palestine and the Holy Sites Paolo Zanini 763 Between Unionism and Ecumenism An Indecisive Inter-Confessional Situation (1914–22) Étienne Fouilloux 779 A Parallel Diplomacy? Vladimir Ghika and Catholic-Orthodox Relations in Romania during World War I Clémence de Rouvray 789 Theological Questions and Devotional Practices Religious Interpretations of War as Reflected in Prayers during World War I Maria Paiano 809 Benedict XV and the Nationalization of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in France and Germany (1914–18) Claudia Schlager 827 ‘…and yet does not touch us’: A Survey of European Theology during the Pontificate of Benedict XV Gianmaria Zamagni 837 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 861 8 62 ta bl e o f co n t e n t s Volume 2 867 Abbreviations Part Three Relations France ‘Trop Petit?’ Benedict XV in Cardinal Alfred Baudrillart’s Journals and Writings Rodolfo Rossi 875 A Case of Oriental Wisdom: The second ralliement Fabrice Bouthillon 891 The Doulcet–Gasparri Agreement of 1920 and the Restoration of Diplomatic Relations between France and the Holy See Audrey Virot 903 The Appointment of Ambassador Jonnart and the Issue of Religious Associations Jean Vavasseur-Desperriers 913 Italy The Reform of Catholic Action Liliana Ferrari 929 The Dissolution of the Taparellian Concept of Nationality during the Great War Cinzia Sulas 949 The Role of Gaspare Colosimo and the King in the Rejection of the Gasparri Draft Piero Doria 967 The Agony of the non expedit Saretta Marotta 983 Benedict XV and Proto-Fascism Alberto Guasco 1003 tab le o f co nt e nt s Germany Benedict XV and the German Episcopate Sascha Hinkel 1025 The German Reception of the Peace Note Claus Arnold 1041 The Legacy of Boniface: The Bavarian Episcopate and the In hac tanta Encyclical (December 1918–October 1919) Patrizio Foresta 1051 The In hac tanta Encyclical (1919) and Peace in Europe Letterio Mauro 1071 Russia and Ukraine The Holy See’s Humanitarian Diplomacy towards the Russian World (1914–22) Laura Pettinaroli 1087 Benedict XV in Search of Peace for Ukraine Athanasius McVay 1105 Peace in Eastern Europe Nathalie Renoton-Beine 1131 Benedict XV and the Caucasus Simona Merlo 1147 The Other European Nations Benedict XV, the Habsburg Empire and the First Republic of Austria Francesco Ferrari 1163 Benedict XV and the British Empire (1914–22) John F. Pollard 1181 Benedict XV and Czechoslovakia Ľuboslav Hromják 1201 Benedict XV and Poland Roberto Morozzo della Rocca 1219 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 8 63 8 64 ta bl e o f co n t e n t s The Irish War of Independence Alberto Belletti 1235 Benedict XV and Yugoslavia (1914–22) Igor Salmič 1249 Finland and the Catholic Church during the Pontificate of Benedict XV Milla Bergström and Suvi Rytty 1265 The Non-European Countries Appeals to Wilson to Avoid the United States’ Entry into War Liliosa Azara 1285 Benedict XV and the Mexican Revolution Paolo Valvo 1313 The Holy See’s Relations with Brazil (1917–19) Ítalo Domingos Santirocchi 1329 Japan on the Vatican’s Radar Olivier Sibre 1341 Part Four Legacy Benedict XV’s Men Benedict XV and the Cardinals Roberto Regoli 1361 Eugenio Pacelli: Benedict XV’s Man of Peace Philippe Chenaux 1377 A Papal Envoy on the International Stage: Edmund Aloysius Walsh, SJ Marisa Patulli Trythall 1395 Benedict XV, Father Gemelli and the Foundation of the Università Cattolica Maria Bocci 1413 Bonaventura Cerretti and the Impossible Missions Marialuisa Lucia Sergio 1433 tab le o f co nt e nt s Europe for Peace and the Aftermath of Versailles The Failure to Revise the Treaty of London (July 1918) Sergio Marchisio 1455 New Diplomatic Relations and New Agreements in Europe Stefan Samerski 1477 Post Mortem The Death of the Pope in the Twentieth Century, Change and Continuity: The Example of Benedict XV Édouard Coquet 1491 The 1922 Conclave and the Return of Pope Pius Lorenza Lullini 1507 The Statue of Benedict XV in Istanbul: The East’s Gratitude to the Charitable Pope Rinaldo Marmara 1519 An Image-Building Failure: Biographies in the Era of Pius XI Giulia Grossi 1535 From Fernand Hayward’s Un Pape méconnu to the Spoleto Congress (1955–63) Federico Ruozzi 1557 Benedict XV and the Founding of the Pontifical Oriental Institute (1917): Foresight, Intuition, Hindsight Edward G. Farrugia 1581 Continuity and Discontinuity: Pius X, Benedict XV and Pius XI Annibale Zambarbieri 1599 Conclusions The Benedict XV Moment Denis Pelletier 1615 Abstracts 1625 Name Index 1663 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 865 Abbreviations AAB Archivio Generale Arcivescovile di Bologna (Bologna) Archiepiscopal Archive of Bologna (Bologna) AACB Archivio dell’Azione Cattolica diocesana di Bologna (Bologna) Catholic Action Archive of the Diocese of Bologna (Bologna) ACACI Archivio Centrale dell’Azione Cattolica (Roma) Italian Catholic Action’s Central Archive (Rome) ACDF Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede (Roma) Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Rome) ACEC Archivio della Congregazione per l’Educazione cattolica (Roma) Archive of the Congregation for Catholic Education (Rome) ACGA Archivio della Curia Generalizia degli Assunzionisti (Roma) Archive of the General Curia of the Assumptionists (Rome) ACO Archivio della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali (Roma) Archive of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (Rome) ACPF Archivio della Congregazione per l’Evangelizzazione dei Popoli (Propaganda Fide) (Roma) Propaganda Fide (Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) Historical Archives (Rome) Archivio Centrale dello Stato (Roma) Italian Central State Archive (Rome) ACS ACTS Archivio storico della Custodia di Terra Santa ( Jerusalem) Custodia Terrae Sanctae Historical Archive ( Jerusalem) ACUA American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) Archivio storico della Segreteria di Stato (Roma), Fondo Congregazione degli Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari Archives of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (Rome) Archives françaises de la Société de Jésus (Vanves) French Archives of the Society of Jesus (Vanves) AES AFSJ AHAM Archivo Histórico de la Arquidiócesis de México (Ciudad de México) Historical Archives of the Archdiocese of Mexico (Mexico City) AHAP Archives Historiques de l’Archevêché de Paris (Paris) Historical Archives of the Archbishop of Paris (Paris) 868 a bbr e v i atio ns AICP Archives de l’Institut catholique de Paris (Paris) Archives of the Institut catholique de Paris (Paris) AICR Archives of the Pontifical Irish College (Rome) AISACEM Archivio dell’Istituto per la storia dell’Azione cattolica e del movimento cattolico in Italia (Roma) Archives of the Institute for the History of the Italian Catholic Action and the Italian Catholic Movement (Rome) AJ Arhiv Jugoslavije (Belgrade) Archives of Yugoslavia (Belgrade) AMAE Archives diplomatiques du Ministère des Affaires étrangères (La Courneuve) Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (La Courneuve) AMEP Archives des Missions étrangères de Paris (Paris) Archives of the Missions étrangères de Paris (Paris) ARCB Arhiepiscopia Romano-Catolică Bucureşti (București) Archives of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest (Bucharest) ARSI Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (Roma) Archive of the Society of Jesus (Rome) ASMAE Archivio Storico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri (Roma) Archives of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Rome) ASV Archivio Segreto Vaticano (Roma) Vatican Secret Archives (Rome) AUC Archivio generale per la storia dell’Università Cattolica (Milano) General Archive for the History of the Università Cattolica (Milan) AUSSME Archivio dell’Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito (Roma) Archive of the Historic Office of the General Staff of the Army (Rome) CADN Centre des Archives diplomatiques de Nantes (Nantes) Nantes Diplomatic Archives Centre (Nantes) EAM Erzbischöfliches Archiv München (München) Archives of the Archdiocese of Munich (Munich) GUSCRC Georgetown University Special Collections Research Center (Washington, DC) IISG Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (Amsterdam) International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam) IMS Institut Marc Sangnier (Paris) Marc Sangnier Institute (Paris) © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. ab b re vi at i o ns KDC Katholiek Documentatie Centrum (Nijmegen) Catholic Documentation Centre (Nijmegen) NA OPM The National Archives (London) Archives des Œuvres Pontificales Missionnaires (Lyon) Archives of the Pontifical Mission Societies (Lyon) TsDIAUL Tsentralnyi derzhavnyi istorychnyi arkhiv Ukrainy u misti Lvovi (Lviv) Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine (Lviv) UMA Ulkoasiainministeriön arkisto (Helsinki) Archive of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (Helsinki) 869 Claus arnold The German Reception of the Peace Note It would be an understatement to say that the diplomatic aspect of the German reception of Pope Benedict XV’s Peace Note has been profoundly studied. Ever since Matthias Erzberger’s post-war claim that the German government had intentionally missed a chance for peace by its tardy, non-committal answer, the diplomatic aspect of the problem has been the focus of attention.1 We have critical editions of the key documents: the German diplomatic documents were edited in 1970 by Wolfgang Steglich,2 and those of the curia are now accessible through the online edition of Pacelli’s papers.3 There is also no lack of syntheses, for example, that of Konrad Repgen in Hubert Jedin’s History of the Church4 and Emma Fattorini’s more recent reconstruction.5 Fattorini more or less supported Erzberger’s point of view, whereas Repgen showed greater understanding for the decision of Chancellor Michaelis to make no concrete promises regarding Belgium, perhaps because the German government did not want to give away this only bargaining chip too early. Rather 1 Erzberger’s claim triggered a parliamentary enquiry (1919–22); see Die Verhandlungen des 2. Unterausschusses des parlamentarischen Untersuchungsausschusses über die päpstliche Friedensaktion von 1917, ed. by Wolfgang Steglich (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1974). On Erzberger, see Christopher Dowe, Matthias Erzberger: ein Leben für die Demokratie (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2011). 2 Der Friedensappell Papst Benedikts XV. vom 1. August 1917 und die Mittelmächte, ed. by Wolfgang Steglich (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1970). 3 ‘Päpstliche Friedensinitiative Benedikts XV. vom 1. August 1917’, in Kritische Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917–1929) <http://www.pacelli-edition.de/Schlagwort/6035> [accessed 10 January 2019]. 4 Konrad Repgen, ‘Foreign Policy of the Popes in the Epoch of the World Wars’, in History of the Church, ed. by Hubert Jedin, 10 vols (New York: Crossroad, 1965–81), X: The Church in the Modern Age (1981), pp. 35–96. 5 Emma Fattorini, ‘La Germania e la nota di pace di Benedetto XV’, in La Conferenza di pace di Parigi fra ieri e domani (1919–1920): atti del convegno internazionale di studi (Portogruaro–Bibione, 31 maggio–4 giugno 2000), ed. by Antonio Scottà (Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2003), pp. 229–52. See Emma Fattorini, Germania e Santa Sede: le nunziature di Pacelli tra la Grande Guerra e la Repubblica di Weimar (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1992). Benedict XV. A Pope in the World of the ‘Useless Slaughter’ (1914–1918) dir. by A. Melloni, ed. by G. Cavagnini and G. Grossi Turnhout, Brepols, 2020, pp. 1041–1050 FHG DOI 10.1484/M.STR-EB.5.118818 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 1042 cl au s a r n o l d than take up once again a topic already treated by other scholars,6 this contribution will focus on the public reception of the Note within German Catholicism, paying particular attention to the dioceses of Fulda and Mainz.7 1. The Overall Situation of German Catholicism during the Great War The German bishops interpreted the war as an occasion for the religious purification and self-reform of society.8 National integration was paramount, and the support for the just cause perceived thereby, that is to say, the self-defence of the German nation against the Russian and French threat, was unanimous. The Jesuit Peter Lippert proclaimed confidently that the edifying national solidarity and religious awakening at the outset of the war in August 1914 had also been prepared for by the pastoral and educational work of German Catholicism. In spite of all difficulties (an allusion to the Kulturkampf), its priests had maintained the people mentally sane and physically fit, contributing to national education with their patriotic political and social activity in the associations (‘Vereine’). National unity was thus interpreted as a successful result of ecclesiastic reform and mobilization. In this sense, the war was a great opportunity for missions and outreach. Theologically, the war created new opportunities for national ecumenism. During the Reformation Jubilee of 1917, a joint committee of Protestant and Catholic Church historians (amongst others Adolf von Harnack, Karl Holl, Sebastian Merkle and Martin Spahn) was formed in order to overcome the confessional stereotypes concerning the interpretation of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation (or Catholic Reformation). Catholic war theology itself became less triumphant from 1915 and centred on the significance of suffering. On the whole, the expressions pronounced by the German episcopate were more restrained than those of their Austrian colleagues.9 The ‘spectacle’ of an open clash with the French episcopate, which had backed the propaganda work La guerre allemande et le catholicisme, published in Paris in 1915, and its interpretation of the war as an anti-Catholic Prussian aggression, was narrowly 6 Nathalie Renoton-Beine, La colombe et les tranchées: Benoît XV et les tentatives de paix durant la Grande Guerre (Paris: Cerf, 2004); Hubert Wolf, ‘Der Papst als Mediator? Die Friedensinitiative Benedikts XV. von 1917 und Nuntius Pacelli’, in Frieden stiften: Vermittlung und Konfliktlösung vom Mittelalter bis heute, ed. by Gerd Althoff (Darmstadt: WBG, 2011), pp. 167–220. See also Philippe Chenaux, ‘Eugenio Pacelli: Benedict XV’s Man of Peace’, in the present volume. 7 See the approach of Patrick J. Houlihan, Catholicism and the Great War: Religion and Everyday Life in Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914–1922 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015). 8 See Claus Arnold, ‘German Catholicism and National Integration (1870–1945)’, in Cattolicesimo, nazione e nazionalismo, ed. by Daniele Menozzi (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2015), pp. 59–68. See also Martin Lätzel, Die Katholische Kirche im Ersten Weltkrieg: zwischen Nationalismus und Friedenswillen (Regensburg: Pustet, 2014). 9 Michaela Sohn-Kronthaler, ‘“Auch wir schauen ein furchtbares Weltdrama”: apokalyptische Metaphorik und religiöse Kriegsdeutungen österreichischer Bischöfe während des Ersten Weltkrieges’, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 110 (2016), pp. 143–57. t h e g e r m an r ec e pt i o n o f t he pe ace not e avoided and the task of anti-propaganda delegated to a working group of Catholic theologians, philosophers, historians and Zentrum politicians.10 Christian universalism did not become entirely extinct although reservations regarding the war were rare among the Catholic elite.11 The German bishops’ main pastoral preoccupation was not the slaughter at the front but the sexual morality behind the front. When reports of organized prostitution in the army became public, the cardinals of Cologne and Munich wrote to Wilhelm II directly and personally (‘Immediateingabe’). Several bishops protested publicly against a planned distribution of condoms to the soldiers in order to reduce venereal diseases.12 The Catholic soldier should come home, as Bishop Faulhaber of Speyer affirmed in May 1915, with a ‘clean shield of honor’ (‘mit reinem Ehrenschild’).13 2. The Reception of the Note Shortly after the publication of the Note, the Fulda Episcopal Conference met from 21 to 23 August 1917: a public declaration in support of the document was deemed to be inopportune.14 The bishops sent instead a declaration of faithfulness and devotion to the Pope, which was not made public. The bishops thanked the Pope for his various peace initiatives and his apostolic work, particularly for completing the new Code of Canon Law. This decision is none too surprising: Cardinal Felix von Hartmann,15 the Archbishop of Cologne and President of the Fulda Conference, was the most Prussian- and nationally-minded president the Conference had ever had. Although Hartmann used his influence with Wilhelm II to intercede sometimes in the interests of Belgian and French Catholics,16 his view of the Note was that it was clearly a political matter which had to be handled by the German government in the first place, without any intervention on the part of the Church. The Note was, after all, of a diplomatic nature; it had been addressed to the governments, not to the bishops, and it had been first of all secret. The same sentiment was true 10 Claus Arnold, ‘La Guerre Allemande et le Catholicisme (1915): Catholic Theological War Propaganda and the Modernist Crisis’, Modernism, 3 (2017), pp. 192–211. 11 Stephan Fuchs, ‘Vom Segen des Krieges’: katholische Gebildete im Ersten Weltkrieg: eine Studie zur Kriegsdeutung im akademischen Katholizismus (Stuttgart: Steiner, 2004). 12 Hermann-Josef Scheidgen, Deutsche Bischöfe im Ersten Weltkrieg (Cologne: Böhlau, 1991), pp. 90–102, 370–72. 13 See Dominik Schindler, ‘Der Speyerer Bischof Michael von Faulhaber im Ersten Weltkrieg unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Besuche an der Westfront’, Archiv für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, 68 (2016), pp. 273–86 (p. 284). 14 Akten der Fuldaer Bischofskonferenz, ed. by Erwin Gatz, 3 vols (Mainz: Matthias Grünewald, 1977–85), III (1985), pp. 276, 286. 15 Hermann-Josef Scheidgen, ‘Felix Kardinal von Hartmann, Erzbischof von Köln (1912–1919)’, Portal Rheinische Geschichte <http://www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/persoenlichkeiten/H/Seiten/ FelixKardinalvonHartmann.aspx> [accessed 10 January 2019]. 16 Scheidgen, Deutsche Bischöfe, pp. 285, 297–98, 316–18, 337–46. © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 1043 1044 cl au s a r n o l d for the monarchist Archbishop, Michael von Faulhaber,17 of the Bavarian Episcopal Conference, who evinced a certain lack of enthusiasm. In his opinion, the German government had answered the Note in an appropriate way, and the responsibility for the failure of the papal initiative lay with the Entente Powers which had ignored or rejected it.18 In accordance with the line taken at Fulda, that is to consider the Note a diplomatic affair which should be left to the government, the bishops did not publish the document in their official gazettes.19 As Patrick J. Houlihan has shown, this practice also prevailed in Austria, where even Catholic newspapers like the Reichspost, or diocesan papers, refused to print it. An exception was made by the Jesuits, whose Stimmen der Zeit printed it fully, although with a rather nationalist commentary by its editor Father Franz Ehrle, later Cardinal, at the beginning of 1918.20 3. The Echo in the German Catholic Press The echo of the Note in the German press has been subject to various studies. Matthias Erzberger himself already wrote two detailed reports to Eugenio Pacelli about it, which have been used by Emma Fattorini, for example, and are now accessible online.21 If we look at German Catholicism in general, it seems that the theologically and ecclesiastically more progressive sector, as represented by the Kölnische Volkszeitung, which had opted for inter-confessionalism in the struggle over Christian trade unions (‘Gewerkschaftsstreit’) under Pius X, now showed a certain lack of enthusiasm for the Note, while not openly rejecting it, whereas the more integralist party, represented by 17 For an overview of the extensive new research on Faulhaber, see Holger Arning and others, ‘Faulhabers Tagebücher und die Katholizismusforschung: Forschungsübersicht und Ausblick’, Kritische Online-Edition der Tagebücher Michael Kardinal von Faulhabers (1911–1952) <http://www. faulhaber-edition.de/public/forschungsuebersicht-2016.pdf> [accessed 10 January 2019]. 18 Johann Klier, Von der Kriegspredigt zum Friedensappell: Erzbischof Michael von Faulhaber und der Erste Weltkrieg: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen katholischen Militärseelsorge (Munich: Kommissionsverlag UNI-Druck, 1991), pp. 201–02. See Martin Greschat, Der Erste Weltkrieg und die Christenheit: ein globaler Überblick (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2014), p. 81; Jörg Ernesti, Benedikt XV.: Papst zwischen den Fronten (Freiburg i.Br.: Herder, 2016), p. 145. 19 Scheidgen, Deutsche Bischöfe, pp. 331–32. 20 Houlihan, Catholicism, pp. 202–03. Ehrle argued that the German government could not offer peace as long as Britain was intent on destroying Germany. See Thomas Ruster, ‘Krieg gegen die Glaubensbrüder: die Nationalisierung der Religion im Spiegel der Theologie’, in Urkatastrophe: die Erfahrung des Krieges 1914-1918 im Spiegel zeitgenössischer Theologie, ed. by Joachim Negel and Karl Pinggéra (Freiburg i.Br.: Herder, 2016), pp. 77–109 (pp. 87–88). 21 [Matthias Erzberger,] ‘La nota di risposta tedesca alla lettera pontificia: e la stampa dei grandi partiti in Germania: I: 22. September 1917’, in Kritische Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917–1929) <http://www.pacelli-edition.de/Dokument/8673> [accessed 10 January 2019]; [Matthias Erzberger,] ‘La Nota di risposta tedesca alla lettera pontificia e la stampa dei grandi partiti in Germania: II: 26. September 1917’, in Kritische Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917–1929) <http://www.pacelli-edition.de/Dokument/429> [accessed 10 January 2019]. t h e g e r m an r ec e pt i o n o f t he pe ace not e the other big Zentrum journal, the Berlin Germania, showed greater understanding for the papal intentions.22 This is analogous to the situation in France: Jean-Marie Mayeur has demonstrated that the integralist French Catholics were more prepared to receive the papal message, whereas the more culturally and nationally open members of the Church rejected it.23 René Schlott has placed the reaction of the Germania within the context of the political press in Berlin as a whole.24 Here, only the most conservative and Protestant journals were critical of the Note. The Catholic press, that is the Germania, the progressive liberal and the social-democratic press was enthusiastic, whereas the national-liberal and the neutral journals were less sanguine in their support. Of major importance was the fact that the parliamentary majority in the Reichstag (Zentrum, Social Democrats and Progressive Liberals) had used the vacuum of power between the chancellorship of Bethmann-Hollweg and Michaelis in order to pass a resolution of peace on 19 July 1917. This call for a so-called Verständigungsfrieden, a peace based on multilateral compromise, was now placed parallel to the papal suggestions. The Reichstag had spoken against all annexations (which implied the freedom of Belgium); it had called for the freedom of the seas, for economic peace and for the creation of international juridical organizations. Using other words, the Pope had become a supporter of the democratic majority in the Reichstag, and their press repaid him for it, a fact that was already stressed by Erzberger in his reports to Pacelli. Chancellor Michaelis set up a parliamentary commission in order to prepare his answer to the Pope but did not feel bound by its suggestions. When he replied to Gasparri on 21 September 1917, he stressed that the Emperor had followed with great respect and true gratefulness the efforts of Benedict XV, who, in a spirit of true impartiality, was attempting to alleviate the sufferings of war as much as possible and to accelerate an end to the hostilities. The Emperor recognized in the pontiff ’s latest initiative new proof of his noble and humane attitude and expressed his vivid desire that the papal call should be rewarded with success for the well-being of the entire world. The outbreak of war was attributed to a ‘disastrous concatenation of events’ which had turned Europe into a site of bloodshed.25 Talks about a limitation of arms and an international court of arbitration were mentioned as concrete steps towards peace, and finally the Chancellor mentioned the July 1917 peace declaration by the Reichstag. He failed to mention Belgium explicitly, but the democratic press in Berlin was inclined to 22 Ernst Heinen, Zentrumspresse und Kriegszieldiskussion: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der ‘Kölnischen Volkszeitung’ und der ‘Germania’ (Cologne: Photostelle der Universität, 1962). 23 Jean-Marie Mayeur, ‘Les catholiques français et Benoît XV en 1917: brèves remarques’, in Chrétiens dans la première guerre mondiale, ed. by Nadine-Josette Chaline (Paris: Cerf, 1993), pp. 153–65. 24 René Schlott, Die Friedensnote Papst Benedikts XV. vom 1. August 1917: eine Untersuchung zur Berichterstattung und Kommentierung in der zeitgenössischen Berliner Tagespresse (Hamburg: Kovač, 2007). 25 Schlott, Die Friedensnote, pp. 310–13. See ‘Antwortnote Michaelis an Gasparri, 19. September 1917’, in Kritische Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917–1929) <http://www.pacelliedition.de/Dokument/7090> [accessed 10 January 2019]. © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 1045 1046 cl au s a r n o l d consider the restoration of Belgium to be implicit in this reference. Pacelli did not and eventually was very disappointed, as we know.26 4. The Reception in Mainz and Fulda Given this general background, I should now like to look at the Catholic reception of the Note in Mainz and Fulda. Theologically and politically, Mainz had been one of the strongholds of Ultramontanism in Germany, beginning with the importation of Alsatian Ultramontane theologians under Bishop Colmar in the Napoleonic period. Even in 1914, the main Catholic newspaper in Mainz, the Mainzer Journal, still stood for this tradition, which had gained further momentum after the Revolution of 1848 and under the episcopate of Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler. When reading the Mainzer Journal in the period of the Great War, we find some remarkable variations from mainstream German Catholic opinion, particularly on the part of academics.27 Unlike many Catholic university theologians and students in Germany, the Mainzer Journal regretted the destruction of Leuven, even if it eventually accepted the German military’s explanation for it. It defended the Belgian clergy against the Protestant claim that they were responsible for the francs-tireurs’ fight against the German army. With regard to the Note, the Mainzer Journal was convinced that much of the French episcopate and good Catholics were not against it (we might speak here of an entente intégraliste). The Mainzer Journal even had some understanding for the negative view of Germany held by French Catholics, insofar as the French thought that Germany consisted entirely of Protestant heretics. The Note was eagerly awaited by the journal, which had already written about its forthcoming arrival at the end of July 1917. This expectation was tinged by a typical Ultramontane sentiment: the German government would certainly accept the Note, whereas the ‘Jacobin-socialist’ government of France and the ‘masonic’ governments of London, Rome and Washington would almost certainly reject it. When the Note appeared, the Mainzer Journal immediately printed its full text on the front page of the 17 August 1917 edition. Towards the end of war, it called the Note ‘the purest and most splendid testimony of this period in history of all times’.28 The newspaper was not surprised by the Entente’s reaction. However, during the process of the reception, it also revealed some characteristic hesitations: the Note was seen to be divided into a religious aspect and a diplomatic one. Catholics were to follow the Pope’s religious 26 See Chenaux, ‘Eugenio Pacelli’. 27 For details, see Simon Brössner, ‘Der Mainzer Katholizismus und der Erste Weltkrieg’ (M. A. thesis, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 2015) <https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/glk/files/2018/08/ Masterarbeit_Broessner.pdf> [accessed 10 January 2019]. See also Simon Brössner, ‘Der Mainzer Katholizismus und der Erste Weltkrieg’, Archiv für mittelrheinischer Kirchengeschichte, 69 (2017), pp. 213–57. 28 ‘Die Weltkrisis und ihre Entwicklung’, Mainzer Journal, 12 September 1918; see Brössner, ‘Der Mainzer Katholizismus und der Erste Weltkrieg’, p. 59. t h e g e r m an r ec e pt i o n o f t he pe ace not e ideal of peace, but as far as the concrete suggestions, regarding Alsace-Lorraine for instance, were concerned, they could have a differing national point of view. The most important steps proposed by the Pope were in any case unproblematic: that is disarmament and the international court of arbitration. Like so many others, the Mainzer Journal failed to recognize that the Pope had shifted away from the theory of a just war, at least in regard to the present war. Therefore, the Mainzer Journal concluded that for the moment it was necessary to continue fighting in order to gain an honourable peace. In comparison to other periodicals in German Catholicism, the Mainzer Journal proved its strong ultramontane orientation by praising the impartial ‘Pope of Peace’ until the very end of the war. German Catholic student organizations acted differently, as is revealed in Stephan Fuchs’s study ‘Vom Segen des Krieges’. Whereas Unitas and Kartellverband at least praised the Pope from 1914 until 1916, the periodical of the nationalist Cartellverband dedicated only a few lines to the Pope in the 2236 pages it published between 1914 and 1918.29 Even if the Mainzer Journal struck a different note, the concrete result of its pro-papal coverage was the same, that is to say, practically nil. Another centre of Ultramontanism in Germany was Fulda.30 The diocese had become Prussian by annexation only in 1866, and the resulting marginalization of Fulda, not to mention the Kulturkampf, were still felt in 1914, although there were also signs of nationalization after 1900, for instance in the naming of football clubs: ‘Borussia Fulda’ and ‘Germania Fulda’. In any case, the cleavage between Berlin, the Protestant centre, and the Catholic periphery in Fulda led to a strong Catholic mobilization and the strengthening of the Catholic milieu in Fulda. Bishop Joseph Damian Schmitt, an alumnus of the German College in Rome, was of a strictly Roman orientation, but also had a strong liking for Wilhelm II, whom he perceived as a pro-Catholic. The Fulda press, as studied by Oliver Göbel, especially the Fuldaer Zeitung, took a very similar line to that of the Mainzer Journal. There was no criticism of the Pope and his desire for peace was idealized, but the national necessities were borne in mind. The Fulda Catholics also failed to understand that the Pope had implicitly rejected the just nature of the war. As Daniele Menozzi has rightly stressed,31 this was not surprising because the Pope had not spoken clearly to the Catholics but diplomatically to the governments. Thus, the Fulda Catholics were also prepared to fight on for the just cause, even if a Christian universalism was upheld in theory. Only in October 1918, when the end to the old regime was close, were the Fulda Catholics very quick to revoke their vows of allegiance to the Hohenzollern dynasty and call for a rapid end to the fighting. 29 Fuchs, ‘Vom Segen des Krieges’, pp. 140–43. 30 For details concerning the following, see Oliver Göbel, Die Fuldaer Katholiken und der Erste Weltkrieg (Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang, 2011). 31 Daniele Menozzi, Chiesa, pace e guerra nel Novecento: verso una delegittimazione religiosa dei conflitti (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2008), pp. 45–46. © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 1047 1048 cl au s a r n o l d 5. A German Catholic Monument to the Note There is at least one monument to the Note in the world, although it is perhaps more typical of a certain strain of German Catholicism: the Frauenfriedenskirche (Our Lady’s Peace Church) in Frankfurt am Main.32 Hedwig Dransfeld, President of the Katholischer Deutscher Frauenbund (Catholic German Women’s Organization), took the Note as the occasion for rendering her plan for the building of such a church public. It was meant to be not only a memorial to the fallen and a monument of gratitude for the divine protection of the fatherland, but also an expression of the Friedensgesinnung (‘ethos of peace’). This was also Dransfeld’s interpretation of the Note: Benedict XV wanted to promote an ethos of peace. Yet in her opinion, paradoxically, it was necessary to enforce this ethos by tackling Germany’s enemies by means of military and economic strategies.33 The church was eventually built during the Weimar Republic, under far more pacifist auspices. The Catholic women of Germany still organize an annual pilgrimage to the church, a lieu de mémoire that has undergone interesting transformations. What was intended to be a monument to the sacrifice of fathers, husbands and sons, became a sacrifice of the women themselves, who had to conform to the pastoral needs and the financial demands established by the male hierarchy.34 Bibliography Arning, Holger, and others, ‘Faulhabers Tagebücher und die Katholizismusforschung: Forschungsübersicht und Ausblick’, Kritische Online-Edition der Tagebücher Michael Kardinal von Faulhabers (1911–1952) <http://www.faulhaber-edition.de/public/ forschungsuebersicht-2016.pdf> Arnold, Claus, ‘German Catholicism and National Integration (1870–1945)’, in Cattolicesimo, nazione e nazionalismo, ed. by Daniele Menozzi (Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2015), pp. 59–68 Arnold, Claus, ‘La Guerre Allemande et le Catholicisme (1915): Catholic Theological War Propaganda and the Modernist Crisis’, Modernism, 3 (2017), pp. 192–211 Brössner, Simon, ‘Der Mainzer Katholizismus und der Erste Weltkrieg’ (M. A. thesis, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 2015) <https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/glk/ files/2018/08/Masterarbeit_Broessner.pdf> Brössner, Simon, ‘Der Mainzer Katholizismus und der Erste Weltkrieg’, Archiv für mittelrheinischer Kirchengeschichte, 69 (2017) 32 Regina Heyder, ‘Ein “steingewordenes Friedensgebet”: die Frauenfriedenskirche in Frankfurt am Main’, in Katholikinnen und Moderne: katholische Frauenbewegung zwischen Tradition und Emanzipation, ed. by Gisela Muschiol (Münster: Aschendorff, 2003), pp. 121–42. 33 Heyder, ‘Ein “steingewordenes Friedensgebet”’, p. 124. 34 Regina Heyder, ‘Heterotopie, Heiliger Raum, Erinnerungsort: Frauenfrieden in Frankfurt am Main’, in Raumkonzepte in der Theologie: interdisziplinäre und interkulturelle Zugänge, ed. by Angela Kaupp (Ostfildern: Grünewald, 2016), pp. 89–112. t h e g e r m an r ec e pt i o n o f t he pe ace not e Dowe, Christopher, Matthias Erzberger: ein Leben für die Demokratie (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2011) Ernesti, Jörg, Benedikt XV.: Papst zwischen den Fronten (Freiburg i.Br.: Herder, 2016) Fattorini, Emma, ‘La Germania e la nota di pace di Benedetto XV’, in La Conferenza di pace di Parigi fra ieri e domani (1919–1920): atti del convegno internazionale di studi (Portogruaro–Bibione, 31 maggio–4 giugno 2000), ed. by Antonio Scottà (Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino, 2003), pp. 229–52 Fattorini, Emma, Germania e Santa Sede: le nunziature di Pacelli tra la Grande Guerra e la Repubblica di Weimar (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1992) Fuchs, Stephan, ‘Vom Segen des Krieges’: katholische Gebildete im Ersten Weltkrieg: eine Studie zur Kriegsdeutung im akademischen Katholizismus (Stuttgart: Steiner, 2004) Gatz, Erwin, ed., Akten der Fuldaer Bischofskonferenz, 3 vols (Mainz: Matthias Grünewald, 1977–85), III (1985) Göbel, Oliver, Die Fuldaer Katholiken und der Erste Weltkrieg (Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang, 2011) Greschat, Martin, Der Erste Weltkrieg und die Christenheit: ein globaler Überblick (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2014) Heinen, Ernst, Zentrumspresse und Kriegszieldiskussion: unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der ‘Kölnischen Volkszeitung’ und der ‘Germania’ (Cologne: Photostelle der Universität, 1962) Heyder, Regina, ‘Ein “steingewordenes Friedensgebet”: die Frauenfriedenskirche in Frankfurt am Main’, in Katholikinnen und Moderne: katholische Frauenbewegung zwischen Tradition und Emanzipation, ed. by Gisela Muschiol (Münster: Aschendorff, 2003), pp. 121–42 Heyder, Regina, ‘Heterotopie, Heiliger Raum, Erinnerungsort: Frauenfrieden in Frankfurt am Main’, in Raumkonzepte in der Theologie: interdisziplinäre und interkulturelle Zugänge, ed. by Angela Kaupp (Ostfildern: Grünewald, 2016), pp. 89–112 Houlihan, Patrick J., Catholicism and the Great War: Religion and Everyday Life in Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914–1922 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) Klier, Johann, Von der Kriegspredigt zum Friedensappell: Erzbischof Michael von Faulhaber und der Erste Weltkrieg: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen katholischen Militärseelsorge (Munich: Kommissionsverlag UNI-Druck, 1991) Lätzel, Martin, Die Katholische Kirche im Ersten Weltkrieg: zwischen Nationalismus und Friedenswillen (Regensburg: Pustet, 2014) Mayeur, Jean-Marie, ‘Les catholiques français et Benoît XV en 1917: brèves remarques’, in Chrétiens dans la première guerre mondiale, ed. by Nadine-Josette Chaline (Paris: Cerf, 1993), pp. 153–65 Menozzi, Daniele, Chiesa, pace e guerra nel Novecento: verso una delegittimazione religiosa dei conflitti (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2008) ‘Päpstliche Friedensinitiative Benedikts XV. vom 1. August 1917’, in Kritische Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917–1929) <http://www.pacelli-edition.de/ Schlagwort/6035> Renoton-Beine, Nathalie, La colombe et les tranchées: Benoît XV et les tentatives de paix durant la Grande Guerre (Paris: Cerf, 2004) Repgen, Konrad, ‘Foreign Policy of the Popes in the Epoch of the World Wars’, in History of the Church, ed. by Hubert Jedin, 10 vols (New York: Crossroad, 1965–81), X: The Church in the Modern Age (1981), pp. 35–96 © BREPOLS PUBLISHERS THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE PRINTED FOR PRIVATE USE ONLY. IT MAY NOT BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. 1049 1050 cl au s a r n o l d Ruster, Thomas, ‘Krieg gegen die Glaubensbrüder: die Nationalisierung der Religion im Spiegel der Theologie’, in Urkatastrophe: die Erfahrung des Krieges 1914-1918 im Spiegel zeitgenössischer Theologie, ed. by Joachim Negel and Karl Pinggéra (Freiburg i.Br.: Herder, 2016), pp. 77–109 Scheidgen, Hermann-Josef, Deutsche Bischöfe im Ersten Weltkrieg (Cologne: Böhlau, 1991) Scheidgen, Hermann-Josef, ‘Felix Kardinal von Hartmann, Erzbischof von Köln (1912–1919)’, Portal Rheinische Geschichte <http://www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/ persoenlichkeiten/H/Seiten/FelixKardinalvonHartmann.aspx> Schindler, Dominik, ‘Der Speyerer Bischof Michael von Faulhaber im Ersten Weltkrieg unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Besuche an der Westfront’, Archiv für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, 68 (2016), pp. 273–86 Schlott, René, Die Friedensnote Papst Benedikts XV. vom 1. August 1917: eine Untersuchung zur Berichterstattung und Kommentierung in der zeitgenössischen Berliner Tagespresse (Hamburg: Kovač, 2007) Sohn-Kronthaler, Michaela, ‘“Auch wir schauen ein furchtbares Weltdrama”: apokalyptische Metaphorik und religiöse Kriegsdeutungen österreichischer Bischöfe während des Ersten Weltkrieges’, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Religions- und Kulturgeschichte, 110 (2016), pp. 143–57 Steglich, Wolfgang, ed., Der Friedensappell Papst Benedikts XV. vom 1. August 1917 und die Mittelmächte (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1970) Steglich, Wolfgang, ed., Die Verhandlungen des 2. Unterausschusses des parlamentarischen Untersuchungsausschusses über die päpstliche Friedensaktion von 1917 (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1974) Wolf, Hubert, ‘Der Papst als Mediator? Die Friedensinitiative Benedikts XV. von 1917 und Nuntius Pacelli’, in Frieden stiften: Vermittlung und Konfliktlösung vom Mittelalter bis heute, ed. by Gerd Althoff (Darmstadt: WBG, 2011), pp. 167–220