A Bridge Across the Ocean: The United States and the Holy See between the Two World Wars

Chapter 4. The Interlocutory Stage

4 THE INTERLOCUTORY STAGE First signs oF ConvergenCe Giovanni Bonzano proved to be a discreet but convincing supporter of the reorganization that culminated in the setting up of the NCWC.1 During his years spent at the head of the Apostolic Delegation of Washington, and especially during the war, he had been immersed in the difficulties of reconciling the work of various Catholic associations in the country and that of the episcopate with directives from Rome; he had also had to give in when faced with the ostracism of Wilson and his administration at the time the Holy See had tried to win America’s goodwill in resolving the Roman question at the Versailles negotiations. In particular, he believed that greater dynamism in the Church could, in the long run at least, improve the image of Catholicism in the eyes of a people greatly conditioned by the nativist stereotype. At the same time, he had no illusions about a possible “change of the guard” in the country’s leadership bringing about a substantial and sudden improvement in relations with the federal establishment. Although the Republican Party had the consent of most of the extremists of anti-Catholic nativism, its leaders appeared at once to wish to establish peaceful relations with the representatives of the Church of Rome. In form if not in substance, their attitude was a step 85 1. See Fogarty, The Vatican and the American Hierarchy, 220–28. 86 THE INTERLOCUTORY STAGE forward compared with that of the outgoing administration. This, as Bonzano said to Gasparri when reporting on the content of a meeting with the Republican J. Callan O’Loughlin, was confirmation of how “at the time of elections all politicians try to appear to be our friends,” but at the same time put on an unexpected, though instrumental , show of helpfulness.2 As for the choice of a presidential candidate, the Apostolic Delegation did not fail to express its reservations to the Vatican secretary of state when commenting on the outcome of the summer 1920 conventions. Harding “is considered to be an able politician, but also weak, and his nomination would seem—putting aside the capitalist interests of the Party—to be due to there being serious accusations against the other most promising candidates.”3 Bonzano added: “he is of course Protestant, and it is rumored that he was initiated into the Masonry, but that he later left it. What politicians fear is that he does not have the strong character of a Roosevelt or a Wilson.”4 As for the Democrats, James Fox seemed to be a better choice of candidate. Bonzano said of him: “he is a good speaker, an able and energetic administrator, is good mannered and holds quite advanced views, and as the Bishop of Columbus [James J. Hartley] once assured me, he is well-disposed toward the Church”;5 “there is, however,” the delegate bitterly remarked, “a negative point which unfortunately goes against him, and that is that he is divorced.”6 His eventual election would therefore not be “a very edifying spectacle,”7 and it would be the first time it had happened in America. 2. Giovanni Bonzano to Pietro Gasparri, Washington, D.C., December 24, 1919, ASV, DASU, 2, pos. 206, f. 6. 3. Giovanni Bonzano to Pietro Gasparri, Washington, D.C., June 23, 1920, ibid., f. 20. 4. Ibid. 5. Giovanni Bonzano to Pietro Gasparri, Washington, D.C., July 10, 1920, ibid., f. 24. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. On the matter of Cox’s divorce, the apostolic delegate also said that “this fact is certainly displeasing to Catholics and also to traditionally conservative Protestants, but it has little or no importance for most of the American people for whom divorce is legal and part of the country’s customs.” See Giovanni Bonzano to Pietro Gasparri, Washington, D.C., October 20, 1920, ibid., f. 39. THE INTERLOCUTORY STAGE 87 Even before Warren Harding entered the White House, the press has circulated the news of a possible renewal of relations between the United States and the Vatican. Given the climate of widespread anti-Catholic hysteria and the certainly nonreassuring diplomatic precedents, this was extraordinary. Bonzano himself—to whom the rumors seemed “totally unfounded”—thought it was the British Foreign Office that was dealing with this matter through the secretary of the British Embassy in Washington, Count de Salis, who had visited him in January 1921. According to de...