Giovanni XXIII Defensor Pacis

Corso di Laurea magistrale (ordinamento ex D.M. 270/2004) in Relazioni Internazionali Comparate – International Relations Tesi di Laurea Giovanni XXIII Defensor Pacis La diplomazia vaticana all’apice della Guerra Fredda (1958-1963) Relatore Ch. Prof. Antonio Trampus Correlatore Ch. Prof.ssa Raffaella Perin Laureanda Camilla Turrini Matricola 829879 Anno Accademico 2013 / 2014 ABSTRACT The Holy See is the only religion in the world to be considered an international actor of the generality of states. One reason is certainly historic and derives from the universal power of the Pope in Western history since medieval times. It is sometimes claimed that the Holy See is an international sui generis subject to the fact that his subjectivity has been recognized in practice even in the period between 1870 and 1929, apart from being a state in the strict sense with a government on a territorial community. The Holy See is the supreme governing authority of the Catholic Church and, at the same time, the supreme political authority of the State of Vatican City, which was founded by the Lateran Treaty in 1929, or, before 1870, the Papal State. The Holy See is considered by the international community an international actor since the beginning of the international community, or rather since the beginning of the modern age when the Pope's supremacy (together with that of the Emperor) progressively declined and in Europe it was formed a system of states without a superior power. The international subjectivity of the Holy See was recognized even when (in the period 1870-1929) did not govern any territory and was therefore not closely linked to the government of a territory. The international subjectivity of the Holy See manifests itself in the entering into international agreements, both bilateral and multilateral. Among the bilateral ones, the Concordats establish the rules on the treatment of the Catholic Church in the territory of the other states. As to the multilateral ones, instead, the Holy See is a member of the Conventions of Geneva of 1949 on the victims of war and its related Additional Protocols, of the Convention of Vienna on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1968, of the Convention of Vienna on the law of Treaties of 1969 and of the 2 Convention of New York on the Rights of the Child of 1989. The Holy See is also entitled to immunity from civil jurisdiction and privileges usually pertaining to foreign states. Lastly, it participates in conference and international organizations (in particular as an observer without voting rights at the United Nations and the Council of Europe) and maintains diplomatic relations with most of the existing states. Vatican diplomacy is a focus of great interest today and it is almost considered the oldest diplomacy in the world. Pope John XXIII was a diplomat of this system, apostolic delegate in Bulgaria, in Turkey, in Greece, and, eventually the apostolic nuncio in France after World War II. This Pope belongs to a long tradition of work and vision. John XXIII was pope from October 28, 1958 until the day of his death, June 3, 1963. In less than five years and at a crucial moment in the history of the twentieth century, the Pope was able to give a new impetus to the evangelizing Catholic Church, relying on the priorities of the religious mission and dialogue. Through the collection and analysis of key documents related to his pontificate (radio messages, letters, encyclicals) and countless testimonies, I have tried to examine the policy guidelines of John XXIII, with particular reference to the mediation role played during the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, his attitude toward the Soviet Union and the phase thaw started with the Kremlin. I also focused my attention on the motivations and intentions that led him to become the interpreter of the signs of his time and the difficulties encountered trying to achieve world peace. Framing the history of international relations, I developed my research around the key issues that have characterized his pontificate. In the first chapter I examined the historical situation at the end of World War II, the origin of the division of the world into two opposing ideological blocs that were the basis of the birth of the Cold War, but, above all, I focused on the status of diplomatic relations between the Holy See, the United States and the Soviet Union. As it was revealed by several studies, the diplomacy of John XXIII was essentially based on his personal and direct contact and 3 his ability to manifest involvement and openness to dialogue. Since the beginning of his diplomatic activity, Roncalli had learned to show kindness and gentleness with disparate ideas, he could remain firm on his positions without causing different contrasts, searching for union rather than division. It was this strategy that John XXIII worked liaising with the United States. Shortly after his election to the papacy, in the fall of 1958, the US government began to re-evaluate the possibility of a reconnection of diplomatic relations with the Vatican. The contacts were formally interrupted since 1867 due to the fact that the Senate voted derecognition of the United States of all the items that were financing the work of the American legation to the Holy See. Since 1867 the United States and the Holy See kept only informal and irregular relations, although the two institutions continued to operate according to a reconciliation: in fact, for the coronation of Roncalli, November 4, 1958, the United States was represented by a delegation to Rome. During John XXIII‘s pontificate Eisenhower and Kennedy became aware of the benefits likely to arise from the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See because it could be a source of considerable strategic information, and because it would could be a trusted ally in view of the goals of American foreign policy. In so doing, American policy could take a humanitarian nature so as to avoid disputes and political opposition. The relationship that the Holy See had with the Soviet Union was wholly dissimilar. In Soviet Russia, in fact, religion was always seen as an enemy, it was hard fought because it was simply considered a reactionary ideology, which had the only goal to crystallize social relations and impose its hegemony on the community of the faithful. The Vatican, for its part, maintained a markedly anti-communist attitude throughout the first half of the twentieth century. John XXIII, instead, decided to start a whole new policy: he went down the road of the complaint of persecution that had plagued the Church until then, however, following an opposite behaviour compared to that of its predecessors. In fact, John XXIII reaffirm the 4 spiritual pivotal role of the Church in a world divided into two blocks from the Cold War. It was the quest for peace and diplomatic conduct based mainly on personal relationships to create a contact between the Soviet leader and the pope. The resumption of relations with the United States and the Soviet Union provided fertile grounds for papal intervention in the serious international crisis that, in October 1962, shocked the world by bringing it closer to an irreversible nuclear catastrophe. I have focused the attention of the second chapter on this subject. Since the UN, which was to carry out this task, was not given any possibility of mediation during the Cuban missile crisis, only a figure, with a moral authority recognized by all the contenders, could intervene and put an end to this indissoluble chain of events. Only an intervention of John XXIII would not be accused of political favouritism and would allow both Kennedy and Khrushchev not to feel defeated. On the morning of October 25, 1962, Vatican spokesmen were instructed to bring to the US embassy to the Holy See and the Soviet embassy accredited to the Italian government the Pope's message. John XXIII, referring directly to the political leaders of their respective ideological blocs, asked them to do all that was possible to safeguard peace, through the promotion of the negotiations and the rejection of war. The Pope's message was decisive and, in a few days, the crisis passed. The last chapter, finally, focuses on the commitment of John XXIII in pursuit of a goal that cares very much about: the establishment of world peace. His dedication to peace lies in deep antithesis to the war, which he regarded as the worst of evils. He has known war closely and has experienced nationalistic hatreds in the Balkans and tragedies of World War II. Recovering from its predecessors the issue of disarmament in the encyclical Pacem in terris, Pope John XXIII broke a centuries-old tradition: the encyclical was addressed to "all men of good will" and not only to Catholics. It all started two weeks after the narrow escape of the Cuban missile crisis. John XXIII felt the need to translate in an encyclical the 5 teachings he had taken from this episode. For a long time, in fact, the Pope wanted to make a summary of the new Christian thought on the question of peace. He wanted to take into account the sequence of changes that characterized the history of man, starting from the nuclear attack of Hiroshima. After the end of the Second World War, this bombardment had split the twentieth century in two eras marked by two diametrically opposed anthropologies. Peace, in fact, was not only the fundamental object of the encyclical in question but of all his work, aimed at concord among peoples. The encyclical was a kind of testament of the Pope: a letter to the world directed "to all men of good will" through which, in a simple and familiar language, he tried to convince that wars would not solve any dispute and would have only caused damage to innocents.

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