Spies in the Vatican: The Soviet Union's Cold War Against the Catholic Church by John D. Koehler (review)

When one hears about spy activities it is usually not associated with a religious entity. Perhaps this is just one reason why this book is unique and thus will be an eye-opening opportunity to learn that any institution can be subject to the scrutiny of a foreign government and with good reasons.

Having a background as a former intelligence officer with the United States Army and the profession of a journalist, the author uses a substantial amount of information secured from government documents, transcripts, and numerous individuals associated with intelligence activities to give us a penetrating insight into how Russia and Eastern European governments secured what they considered important information about the Vatican's role in international affairs affecting their well-being. Specific targets of communist religious spies within the Vatican included the Secretary of State's office, Vatican Radio, international Catholic organizations, and educational institutions. The Russians and their associates were using the tools of espionage and counter-propaganda at ending what they considered subversive activities (p. 227).

Much of the work in this book centers on the religious clergy associated with one of the most Catholic countries in the world—Poland—a country traditionally conservative and anti-communist, but in reality greatly controlled by the Russians. Yet, the author identifies a number of reasons why Polish priests who would rise within the religious community in terms of rank and prestige became spies for a foreign espionage agency. Some of these are not especially unique and include the usual reasons such as fear, alcohol, money, and women. In addition, the author notes that there was the motivation of being able to study and travel abroad. Like some other types of spies, a number of Polish priests provided information for a long period of time, and also held important and prestigious positions.

Yet, it is ironic that the Catholic Church in Poland, which has traditionally been characterized as strongly anti-communist and anti-atheist, had so many of its clergy spying on the Church and its associations. As noted in the book, the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland revealed that about ten to fifteen percent of the nation's Catholic clergy had collaborated with the secret police to provide information that reached communist authorities (p. 272).

One may wonder why the Russians and their espionage associates from other countries under its control such as Poland would invest valuable resources into securing information from the Vatican. However, in this book the reasons become obvious. For example, although the Vatican has no standing armies, it does have influence in world politics. There were millions of Catholics in the world, and many of them lived under a communist type of government. In addition, when the Pope makes a public comment this could affect the views of many Catholics around the world and influence their behavior toward a certain government in terms of support or opposition. In addition, it is fairly common for national leaders to meet with the Pope, and these discussions could have international repercussions. One example of such a meeting cited in the book refers to the time when United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met with Pope Paul VI and discussed a number of agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union. Another example occurred when President Reagan met with Pope John Paul II to express support for the Polish people's human rights (pp. 53, 223).

There were also other reasons for the communists to spy on the Vatican. It is noted that "Communist case officers tasked their Vatican spies to concentrate on gathering information on the activities of the Holy See in supporting the Polish opposition to the communist regime" (p. 177). In addition, the communists believed that the Roman Curia supported the behavior of the United States in Latin America which...