Authors

Discussion

Abstract

Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Vatican underwent a generational transition that had been brewing during the final years of Pius XII’s pontificate and came to fruition under Popes John XXIII and Paul VI. The new generation was often referred to by contemporaries as “progressives,” in contrast to the more conservative “integrists.” The rise of “progressives” to influential positions resulted in a transformation of Vatican policy towards the USSR, a shift in which left-leaning Christian Democrats—the so-called “professorini” as Giorgio La Pira (1904–77), Giuseppe Dossetti (1913–96), and Amintore Fanfani (1908–99)—played a significant role.

In my paper, I would like to focus on a lesser-studied episode that lasted only a few years before the death of Pius XII. After the spring of 1953, reports began to emerge about certain changes within the Kremlin, prompting the Vatican to assess the dynamics of the evolving situation. These shifts became more apparent at the highest levels of political decision-making in the USSR during the 20th Congress of the CPSU in February 1956, which marked the beginning of “de-Stalinization.” Given its foreign policy interests, the Vatican found it necessary to adapt to this new reality. However, due to his age and declining health, the Pope was unable to provide new momentum to the Vatican’s approach toward the USSR, even though he discussed the need for change within a small circle of Church officials. Meanwhile, some of his close collaborators—as well as some of his critics—began to speculate on how Vatican policy toward the USSR might evolve once a new Pope was elected. A few even held secret meetings with official representatives from Eastern Bloc countries, attempting to signal that a shift in Vatican policy was on the horizon.

Although the pontificate of Pius XII has traditionally been portrayed in historiography as staunchly anti-communist, can this characterization be considered unequivocal in light of the final years of his life, which coincided with a degree of liberalization in the Soviet regime during the Khrushchev Thaw? What factors accounted for the shifts in the thinking of Vatican officials regarding policy toward the USSR? And how did generational change and evolving approaches to Eastern policy manifest at the micro level within the Vatican during the final years of Pius XII’s pontificate?