Papal Diplomacy in the Modern Age ed. by Peter C. Kent, and John F. Pollard (review)

614 BOOK REVIEWS ecclesiology. It is difficult to resist the temptation to underline his points regarding the re-evaluation of the universal priesthood of the people of God and the reappraisal of the sensusfidelium. Yet a sort of pessimism, often too polemically pungent, with regard to the entire ecclesiology of bygone ages deserves further criticism; indeed, expressions such as "regime sinodale," "antico regime di comunione," "cristianesim ó occidentale," "cattolicesimo romano," "obbligatorietà sociale del cristianesimó" (social mandatory status of Christianity) suggest caution, since they promote a theological construction of thought often cleverly political and quite contradictory of the ecumenical and irenical spirit otherwise continually recommended. Ecumenical respect for Protestant tenets or organizational elements of the Eastern Churches may not always require so much rigor in criticizing facets of Western Christianity or of the Roman tradition. The re-evaluation of the pontificate ofJohn XXIII goes, it seems, beyond the proper limits, as we read that "above all, then, the pleasure of and need for historical research were rediscovered" (p. 7), as if these had been forgotten after the Council of Trent. One must regret that with Alberigo's criticism of "Roman Catholicism" in the sense ofwhat is dominated by the Papacy (today's word is "The Vatican") no attention is paid to the critical work of the Roman historical school; I mean principally the school of the Vatican Library, the Vatican Archives, and the documentary art collections in the historical research prompted, with Theodor Mommsen, in the monumental contributions of Giovanni Battista De Rossi, Ludwig von Pastor, Achille Ratti, and Giovanni Mercati. The meager appreciation of Ambrogio Traversari, with the omission of Cardinal Bessarion, goes along with a sort of "ideological" tone ofAlberigo's ecclesiology, which loses the chance to treasure important, truly decisive aspects of sacred philology ("Ecclesiastical philology," Bacchini). Two of the eleven essays in this volume were previously unpublished; the other nine had appeared in Concilium, Cristianesimó nella storia, andRivista di storia delta Chiesa in Italia. Giovanni Montanari Archives of the Archdiocese ofRavenna-Cervia Papal Diplomacy in the Modern Age. Edited by Peter C. Kent and John F. Pollard. (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. 1994. Pp. xiv, 288.«59.95.) The nineteen essays in this volume were originally presented at a symposium , "The Holy See in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries," held at the University of New Brunswick in 1991. In their introduction the editors assert that modern papal diplomacy is unique because the Holy See is unlike other international actors in its organization, objectives, and methods. While the subsequent essays vary in the degree to which they develop or even address BOOK REVIEWS615 this thesis, they provide a useful, ifnecessarily episodic, survey ofthe Vatican's place in the diplomatic history of the last two centuries. The contributions range chronologically from the Congress of Vienna to the fall of the Berlin Wall and geographically from North America to Southeast Asia by way of Nicaragua, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia, Israel, and Lebanon. Some of the ground has been plowed before, but several essays explore new territory. In separate papers Roberto Perin and Phyllis Leblanc consider the way in which issues of language and ethnicity drew the Holy See into Canadian affairs at the turn of the century. John Conway offers several thoughtful insights into the contentious debate over the Vatican's response to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Describing Pope Paul VTs futile efforts to mediate the Vietnam War, Roy Palmer Domenico demonstrates that the war marked a significant reappraisal by the Vatican of its tacit alliance with the United States against communism. Finally, the late Peter Hebblethwaite provides an interesting appreciation of the Holy See's role in post-Ostpolitik Europe. The scope ofany collection such as this is necessarily limited by the research interests of the contributors, and the editors certainly make no claim for comprehensive coverage of their subject. Still, given the title of the work a reader might be surprised by certain omissions. The twenty-five-year pontificate of Leo XIII is represented only by the above mentioned papers on ecclesiastical affairs in Canada. One might expect greater interest in a pontificate which sought to reclaim for the Papacy a significant role in international affairs and whose engagement...