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The Establishment of the Apostolic Delegation to Palestine, Cyprus, and Transjordan (1929): Cause or Effect of Changes in Vatican Middle East Policy?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 November 2018

Paolo Zanini
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Abstract

This essay brings to light how the establishment of the Apostolic Delegation to Palestine, Cyprus, and Transjordan (1929) marked a turning point in the Catholic presence in Palestine during the period of the British Mandate. Based on several unexplored archival sources, this paper analyzes the factors driving the creation of the new Apostolic Delegation and the consequences it produced in the Holy See's Middle and Near Eastern policies. The difficult relationship among various Catholic institutions in Palestine and the necessity to adapt the Catholic presence in that region to the new political situation caused the Vatican to send an apostolic visitor (1925) and then to establish direct representation of the Holy See in Jerusalem (1929). This last decision contributed to sounder relations with the British administration and functioned to limit the involvement of European Catholic powers (primarily France and Italy) in church affairs. At the same time, it highlighted the Vatican's will to reinforce the role of the Christian Arab clergy in Palestine while limiting that of European missionaries. This analysis creates a clearer picture of how the establishment of the Apostolic Delegation to Palestine, Cyprus, and Transjordan was at the same time the cause and effect of an important shift in the Catholic perception of Palestine.

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Church History , Volume 87 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 797 - 822
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Copyright © American Society of Church History 2018 

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References

1 On this Vatican perception see Historical Archive of the Vatican Secretariat of State, Archives for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, Turkey 4th period (hereafter AAEESS, T. IV), pos. 105, fasc. 101, f. 30r, note, January 12, 1932.

2 See Wasserstein, Bernard, The British in Palestine: The Mandatory Government and the Arab Jewish Conflict 1917–1929 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1978), 235Google Scholar; Townshend, Charles, “Going to the Wall: The Failure of British Rule in Palestine, 1928–31,” The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 30, no. 2 (2002): 27CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Cohen, Hillel, Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1929 (Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Press, 2015)Google Scholar.

3 Zanini, Paolo, “Italia e Santa Sede di fronte ai disordini del 1929 in Palestina,” Italia Contemporanea 63, no. 264 (2011): 413Google Scholar.

4 The Apostolic Delegation is a Vatican representative and responsible in foreign countries or regions which do not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See. For this reason, the Apostolic Delegation does not have diplomatic status or official power to deal with civil governments but only with the local ecclesiastical hierarchy.

5 Notwithstanding the importance of the change, historical studies, which have been conducted into the main Catholic institutions in Palestine in the twentieth century, have not yet been devoted to the investigation of the creation of the Apostolic Delegation. On the Custody of the Holy Land during the twentieth century, see Giovannelli, Andrea, La Santa Sede e la Palestina: La Custodia di Terra santa tra la fine dell'impero ottomano e la guerra dei sei giorni (Rome: Studium, 2000)Google Scholar. On the patriarchate, see Pieraccini, Paolo, “Il patriarcato latino di Gerusalemme (1918–1940). Ritratto di un patriarca scomodo: mons. Luigi Barlassina,” Il Politico 63, no. 2 and 4 (1998): 207–256Google Scholar, 591–639.

6 On this change, see Porath, Yehoshua, The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab National Movement 1918–1919 (London: Cass, 1974), 293–303Google Scholar; Porath, Yehoshua, The Palestinian-Arab National Movement from Riots to Rebellion 1929–1939 (London: Cass, 1977), 269–271Google Scholar; Tsimhoni, Daphne, “The Arab Christians and the Palestinian Arab National Movement during the Formative Stage,” in The Palestinians and the Middle East Conflict, ed. Ben-Dor, Gabriel (Ramat Gan: Turtledove, 1978), 73–98Google Scholar; Robson, Laura, Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), 36–43Google Scholar, 158–161; and Haiduc-Dale, Noah, Arab Christians in British Mandate Palestine. Communalism and Nationalism, 1917–1948 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2013), 88–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 138–144, 152–156.

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9 On the condition of the Christian institutions during the war, see Mazza, Roberto, Jerusalem from the Ottomans to the British (London: I. B. Tauris, 2009), 58–68Google Scholar. On the feeling of freedom, after the entrance of general Allenby into the city, see: Historical Archive of the Custody of the Holy Land (hereafter ACTS), Curia Custodiale, Cronache Generali 35, Cronaca di Terra Santa 1906–1931, Cronache, 277–279.

10 Fabrizio, Daniela, La questione dei Luoghi santi e l'assetto della Palestina, 1914–1922 (Milan: Franco Angeli, 2000) 158–159Google Scholar; and Pieraccini, Paolo, “Il custodiato di Ferdinando Diotallevi (1918–1924) e la nascita della rivista La Terra Santa (15 gennaio 1921),” in Una voce per la Terra Santa: Atti del convegno “Dalla notizia alle notizie. Informazioni, archeologia, dialogo tra le fedi. I novant'anni della rivista Terrasanta, 1921–2011”, ed. Caffulli, Giuseppe (Milan: Terra Santa, 2012)Google Scholar, 34.”

11 On the organization and presence of the Eastern Catholic churches in the Middle East, see Hajjar, Joseph, Les Chrétiens Uniates du Proche-Orient (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1962)Google Scholar; and Mayeres-Rebernik, La Saint-Siège, 269–424.

12 The custos (or guardian) of the Holy Land is the chief of the Custody and the Minister Provincial of the Franciscan Friars living throughout the Middle East. Traditionally he is an Italian.

13 Pieraccini, “Il patriarcato,” 211–212; and Pieraccini, “Il custodiato,” 30–31. Ferdinando Diotallevi (1869–1958) entered the Franciscan order in 1884. 1n 1910, he was sent to Istanbul as father superior of the Franciscan mission. He was elected custos of the Holy Land in December 1917, just a month after the conquest of Jerusalem by Allenby, remaining in this position until August 1924. During his tenure, he restored the Custody's proprieties affected by the war and was able to defend the Franciscans’ prerogatives in the shrines. After 1924, he was once again in Jerusalem as president of the Franciscan Studium Biblicum between 1927 and 1929. Luigi Barlassina (1872–1947) from Turin became a priest in 1894. In November 1911, he was appointed spiritual director of the Collegio Urbaniano in Rome. He arrived in Jerusalem during October 1918, sent by the Congregation of Propaganda Fide as deputy of Patriarch Camassei. He became Latin patriarch himself on March 8, 1920, remaining in this post until his death in September 1947. He remained patriarch during the entire Mandatory period, trying to rebuild the patriarchate's structures and to modernize the Latin Catholic presence in Palestine and finding himself in conflict with the British administration. On them, see Pieraccini, Paolo, Padre Girolamo Golubovich (1865–1941). L'attività scientifica, il Diario e altri documenti inediti tratti dall'archivio personale (1898–1941) (Milan: Terra Santa, 2016), 538–540Google Scholar, 566–569.

14 Pieraccini, Paolo, Il ristabilimento del Patriarcato latino di Gerusalemme e la Custodia di Terra Santa. La dialettica istituzionale al tempo del primo patriarca Mons. Giuseppe Valerga (1847–1872) (Cairo: Franciscan, 2006)Google Scholar.

15 Fabrizio, Daniela, Identità nazionali e identità religiose: Diplomazia internazionale, istituzioni ecclesiastiche e comunità cristiane di Terra Santa tra Otto e Novecento (Rome: Studium, 2004), 142–143Google Scholar.

16 See Médebielle, Pierre, La diocesi del Patriarcato latino di Gerusalemme (Jerusalem: Patriarcato, 1963), 27Google Scholar.

17 Ferrari, Silvio, “Pio XI, la Palestina e i Luoghi santi,” in Achille Ratti Pape Pie XI (Rome: École française de Rome, 1996), 910–912Google Scholar. On the relations between the Catholic Church and the Zionist movement, see Minerbi, The Vatican; Kreutz, Vatican Policy; Perko, Michael, “Toward a ‘sound and lasting basis’: relations between the Holy See, the Zionist movement and Israel, 1886–1996,” Israel Studies 2, no. 1 (1998): 1–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mayeres-Rebernik, La Saint-Siège, 111–136; and de Dreuzy, Agnes, The Holy See and the Emergence of Modern Middle East: Benedict XV's Diplomacy in Greater Syria (1914–1922) (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2016), 222–253CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For the specific attitude of American Catholics toward Zionism, see Adriano E. Ciani, “The Vatican, American Catholics and the Struggle for Palestine, 1917–1958: A Study of Cold War Roman Catholic Transnationalism,” (PhD diss., University of Western Ontario, 2011).

18 Pieraccini, Paolo, “La Custodia di Terra Santa, il sionismo e lo Stato d'Israele (1897–1951),” Studi francescani 110, no. 3–4 (2013), 380–381Google Scholar. On the skepticism of Barlassina toward the Arab national movement, see Haiduc-Dale, Arab Christians, 31.

19 Archive of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (hereafter APLJ), b. Propaganda Fide 1921–1929, Barlassina to Van Rossum, August 27, 1922. On the formation of the Islamic-Christian associations, see Porath, The Emergence, 31–34; Minerbi, The Vatican, 124–126; Muslih, Muhammad, The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), 158–163Google Scholar; Seikaly, May, Haifa: The Transformation of a Palestinian Arab Society 1918–1939 (London: I. B. Tauris, 1995), 166–183Google Scholar; and Haiduc-Dale, Arab Christians, 38–51.

20 See APLJ, b. Propaganda Fide 1921–1929, Barlassina to Van Rossum, April 22, 1921; May 14, 1921; and July 2, 1921. On the strong transnational character of the Catholic institutions in Palestine, see Summerer, Karène Sanchez, “Preserving the Catholics of the Holy Land or Integrating Them into the Palestine Nation (1920–1950)?,” in Modernity, Minority, and the Public Sphere: Jews and Christians in the Middle East, ed. Goldstein-Sabbah, Sasha and den Berg, Heleen Murre-van (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 121–152CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Fabrizio, Daniela, “Premessa,” in Diotallevi, Ferdinando, Diario di Terrasanta, ed. Fabrizio, Daniela, (Milan: Biblioteca francescana, 2002), 28Google Scholar; and Pieraccini, “La Custodia,” 375–377, 381–383. On the relations between the Custody and the European powers, see ACTS, Curia Custodiale, Copialettere 1, Segreteria di Stato Vaticana, 384–394.

22 See Metzler, Josef, “La Santa Sede e le missioni,” in Dalle missioni alle Chiese locali, vol. XXIV Storia della Chiesa, ed. Metzler, Josef (Cinisello Balsamo: San Paolo, 1990), 83–87Google Scholar; and Giovagnoli, Agostino, “Pio XII e la decolonizzazione,” in Pio XII, ed. Riccardi, Andrea (Rome: Laterza, 1985), 181–184Google Scholar.

23 Ferrari, Silvio, Vaticano e Israele dal secondo conflitto mondiale alla guerra del Golfo (Florence: Sansoni, 1991), 23–24Google Scholar; Haiduc-Dale, Arab Christians, 12; and Mayeres-Rebernik, La Saint-Siège, 273–289.

24 Fabrizio, “Premessa,” 28–31. On the action of Cardinal Van Rossum as head of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, see Prudhomme, Claude, “Le Cardinal Van Rossum et la politique missionnaire du Saint-Siège sous Benoît XV e Pie XI, 1918–1932,” in Life with a Mission: Cardinal Willem Marinus Van Rossum CSsR, 1854–1932, ed. Poeles, Vefie, Salemink, Theo, and de Valk, Hans (Gent: Trajecta, 2011), 123–141Google Scholar.

25 See Fabrizio, Identità nazionali, 156–165; and Giovannelli, La Santa Sede, 89–94.

26 Pieraccini, “Il patriarcato,” 604.

27 Pieraccini, “La Custodia,” 385–386.

28 Minerbi, The Vatican and Zionism, 67–69.

29 Central Zionist Archives (hereafter CZA), S25\736\9, Lattes to Zionist Executive, January 27, 1926. It is also of interest to note that in the Weizmann Letters and Papers where notes regarding Vatican opposition were frequent until 1924, any kind of reference linked with the Palestinian policy of the Holy See disappeared after 1925.

30 On the mistrust of the British administration toward Barlassina's initiatives and action at the beginning of the Twenties, see Hachey, Thomas E., ed., Anglo-Vatican Relations, 1914–1939: Confidential Annual Reports of the British Ministers to the Holy See (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1972), 44Google Scholar.

31 Pieraccini, “Il custodiato,” 67–68.

32 Pieraccini, “Il Patriarcato,” 591–596. See also Hachey, Anglo-Vatican Relations, 61.

33 Paschal Robinson (1870–1948) was an Irish born Franciscan who grew up in the United States, where he moved with his family when he was a child. He worked as a journalist before entering the Franciscan order. After making this commitment, he taught medieval history at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. During 1919, he was in Versailles at the peace conference with the custos of the Holy Land, Diotallevi, trying to defend Catholic rights to the Holy Land's sanctuaries. Between 1920 and 1928, he was in Palestine several times as apostolic visitor, envoy of the Vatican Secretariat of State. In 1929, he was appointed apostolic delegate to Malta and the following year apostolic nuncio to Dublin, where he remained until his death, exercising great political influence. On him, see Pierraccini, Padre Girolamo Golubovich, 620–621.

34 APLJ, b. Propaganda Fide 1921–1929, Barlassina to Van Rossum, July 1, 1923.

35 APLJ, b. Propaganda Fide 1921–1929, Giannini to Respighi, May 30, 1924; and Barlassina to Van Rossum, June 18, 1924. On this episode, see also Pieraccini, “Il patriarcato,” 599–600.

36 In the Catholic hierarchy, the apostolic visitor is a Vatican envoy with a temporary mission to perform an enquiry, called a “canonical visitation.” The visitor is charged to investigate one or more specific issues in a diocese or country and to report to the Holy See, suggesting solutions and actions.

37 AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 61, fasc. 64, ff. 3–4. On the role and targets of the apostolic visitor, see also: Archive of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches (hereafter ACO), Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, ff. 1–7, “Istruzioni della S.C. per la Chiesa orientale per il visitatore apostolico della Palestina”; f. 49, note “Per l'udienza del Santo Padre.” Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own.

38 ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 932/28, ff. 14–15, 35–36, draft and letter to Pius XI, June 3, 1925.

39 See Minerbi, The Vatican, 56–58; and Giovannelli, La Santa Sede, 91–93.

40 On this issue, see The National Archives, Foreign Office (hereafter TNA, FO) 141/667/6, Dormer to Chamberlain, July 17, 1925; Dormer to Chamberlain, July 29, 1925; and Russel to Chamberlain, October 5, 1925.

41 APLJ, b. Propaganda Fide, 1921–1929, Barlassina to Van Rossum, November 24, 1925.

42 This attitude emerges clearly in CZA, S25/736/9, Palestine Zionist Executive to Political Secretary of Zionist Organization, February 19, 1926.

43 ACTS, Carteggio, Santa Sede, fasc. Segreteria di Stato, s.f. 10, Gasparri to Giannini, February 25, 1926.

44 On this complicated dispute, see APLJ, b. Delegati apostolici, s.f. Vertenza, Robinson to Kean, March 16, 1926; Kean to Barlassina, February 14, 1926; Barlassina to Robinson, May 8 and 10, 1926; Barlassina to Van Rossum, May 17, 1926, and its attachments; and Barlassina to Gasparri, May 17, 1926.

45 APLJ, b. Delegati apostolici, s.f. Vertenza, Barlassina to Van Rossum, October 25, 1926.

46 ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, ff. 24–31, Robinson to Sincero, November 22, 1926.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid. It is of interest to note how, during 1927, Giannini took a position in favour of the passing of the whole territories within the borders of the diocese of the Latin patriarchate to the forthcoming delegation. On this, see ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, f. 43, Giannini to Sincero, July 5, 1927.

49 On the last part of his mission, see ACO Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 932/28, ff. 74–75, Robinson to Sincero, March 22, 1927; and f. 80, Robinson to Sincero, May 3, 1928.

50 ACO, Latini, Palestina, pos. 429/Prop, Robinson to Van Rossum, February 28, 1928, and April 19, 1928.

51 ACO, Latini, Palestina, pos. 429/Prop, Barlassina to Van Rossum, December 1, 1926.

52 Vatican Secret Archive, Archive of the Apostolic Delegation to Jerusalem and Palestine, Archive Testa (hereafter ADAGP) b. 3, fasc. 13, ff. 1r–30r, “Relazione della Visita Apostolica sulla situazione dei Latini del Patriarcato di Gerusalemme.” On the situation in Transjordan, see also ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 932/28, ff. 87–94, “Relazione sulla situazione religiosa della Transgiordania,” memorandum sent by Robinson to Sincero, January 27, 1926; ACO, Latini, Patriarcato di Gerusalemme, pos. 335/37, “Relazione sui rapporti tra il Patriarcato latino di Gerusalemme ed il clero greco cattolico della Palestina e della Transgiordania.”

53 ADAGP, b. 3, fasc. 13, ff. 1r–30r.

54 AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 102, fasc. 99, ff. 55–56, Robinson to Gasparri, January 24, 1929.

55 On these hopes, see ADAGP, b. 3, fasc. 13, ff. 13–14.

56 See ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, ff. 45–48, memorandum by Robinson, June 6, 1928; ff. 56–57, Giannini to Cicognani, August 22, 1928; f. 58, note, September 6, 1928; ff. 61–64, Giannini to Sincero, September 25, 1928; and ff. 75–76, Robinson to Sincero, December 4, 1928.

57 ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, ff. 70–71, Mogabgab to Sincero, November 19, 1928; f. 73, note Per l'udienza del Santo Padre, November 1928.

58 Valerio Valeri (1883–1963) became a priest in 1907. In 1920, he entered the service of the Secretariat of State, being sent as auditor of the French Nunciature between 1921 and 1927. In that year, he was appointed apostolic delegate to Egypt; two years later, he also joined the Apostolic Delegation to Jerusalem. He was appointed apostolic nuncio to Bucharest in 1933 and to Paris in 1936. He remained nuncio to France until 1944, serving during the highly dramatic period of the Nazi occupation and the puppet regime of Vichy. In 1944, at the insistence of De Gaulle's government, he was replaced by Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, and returned to the Roman Curia. In 1953, he was elevated to cardinal by Pius XII.

59 On these instructions, see AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 78, fasc. 85, ff. 44–45, “Istruzioni a Mons. Valeri”; ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, f. 84, note, February 27, 1929; and ff. 112–117 Istruzione a Mons. Valeri quale Delegato Ap. della Transgiordania, Palestina e Cipro.

60 On the arrival of Valeri at Jerusalem, see AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 78, fasc. 85, ff. 66–67, Valeri to Gasparri, April 12, 1929; and ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, ff. 125–126, Valeri to Sincero, April 12, 1929. See also L'Osservatore Romano, March 9, 1929; and Fidelis, “L'arrivo del Delegato Apostolico”, L'Osservatore Romano, March 23, 1929. The name “Fidelis” is a pseudonym. The author of this article was probably Alessandro Mombelli, an Italian Franciscan who lived in Palestine.

61 APLJ, b. Delegati Apostolici, Gasparri to Barlassina, February 23, 1929; ACTS, Carteggio, Santa Sede, fasc. Segreteria di Stato, s.f. 10, Gasparri to Marotta, February 23, 1929.

62 Regarding the reaction of Barlassina, see APLJ, b. Delegati Apostolici, Barlassina to Valeri, March 25, 1929.

63 ACTS, Curia Custodiale, Cronache, Cronache generali, 35 Cronaca di Terra Santa, Cronaca 1906–1931, 723–727. On the different attitudes of the patriarchate and the Custody toward the appointment and arrival of Valeri, see ACTS, Curia Custodiale, Cronache, Cronache dei Custodi, 17 Giornale del custode Marotta, March 8, 10–11, and 14, 1929; and APLJ, b. Delegati Apostolici, Barlassina's note dated “S. Giuseppe 1929.”

64 On this issue, see ACO, Oriente, Rappresentanza pontificia in Gerusalemme e Palestina, pos. 930/28, f. 51, note, August 27, 1928.

65 ADAGP, b. 6, fasc. 27, f. 106, Sincero to Salman, October 19, 1934. On the reasons underlying the conversions, see ADAGP, b. 3, fasc. 13, f. 11; and APLJ, b. Congregazione orientale, Barlassina to Sincero, December 8, 1934.

66 On this issue, see ADAGP, b. 3, fasc. 13, ff. 52–53, draft by Testa, February 23, 1937.

67 APLJ, b. Congregazione Chiese orientali, Tisserant to Barlassina, July 29, 1937.

68 See ADAGP, b. 6, fasc. 27, ff. 107–109, Sincero to Testa, May 13, 1935. In the same archive folder are many other documents on the same quarrel.

69 On the nationalist actions and opinions of Monsignor Hajjar, see Brunella, Giulio, “Sulla posizione nazionalistica del vescovo melchita Grigurius al-Hajjar (1875–1940),” Alifba 4, no. 6–7 (1986): 57–78Google Scholar; and Robson, Colonialism, 35–36. On the Latin claims and accusations against the Greek Catholic clergy, see AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 61, fasc. 64, ff. 26–61; ADAGP, b. 6, fasc. 27, ff. 121r–123r.

70 ADAGP, b. 5, fasc. 23, ff. 257–263, Testa to Tisserant, August 15, 1936; ff. 303r–306r, Testa to Tisserant, June 26, 1937; and ff. 349r–357r, Tisserant to Hajjar, January 12, 1938.

71 See Hachey, Anglo-Vatican Relations, 158; The National Archives, Colonial Office (hereafter TNA CO) 732/40/7, Rendel to Chamberlin, September 9, 1927; Russel to Chamberlin, September 30, 1927; and Rendel to Chamberlin, November 7, 1927.

72 TNA CO 732/40/7, Chilton to Chamberlin, January 18, 1929.

73 On this issue see AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 78, fasc. 85, ff. 68–70, Valeri to Gasparri, April 18, 1929; pos. 105, fasc. 101, ff. 21–22, Valeri to Pacelli, December 19, 1931.

74 On the situation created by the Lateran Pacts in February 1929 and their possible consequences in the Middle Eastern theater, see Zanini, Paolo, “The Holy See, Italian Catholics and Palestine under the British Mandate: Two Turning Points,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 67, no. 4 (2016): 802–803CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

75 On the positive evaluation of Bartoloni by British diplomats and officials, see TNA CO 733/262/1, Hall to Williams, October 6, 1934; and Hachey, Anglo-Vatican Relations, 246. Regarding the death of the apostolic delegate and reactions to it, see ASV, Archive of the Apostolic Delegation to Egypt, b. 36, fasc. 296, ff. 50r–53r, Mazzoli to Sincero, October 18, 1935.

76 See Hachey, Anglo-Vatican Relations, 272.

77 TNA CO 733/262/1, Rendel to Williams, May 9, 1934, and the attached note.

78 TNA CO 733/262/1, Wingfield to Simon, November 23, 1934; and Hachey, Anglo-Vatican Relations, 272. On the mission of Testa in Germany, see Levant, Marie, “Mgr Testa, envoyé spécial en pays rhénan (1923–1924),” in Le gouvernement pontifical sous Pie XI: pratiques romaines et gestion de l'universel, ed. Pettinaroli, Laura (Rome: École française de Rome, 2013), 117–136Google Scholar.

79 On the entire issue of relations between the Apostolic Delegation and the British, see Pieraccini, “Il patriarcato,” 602–604, 631–634. On the pro-Fascist attitude of Testa, see Cohen, Raymond, Saving the Holy Sepulchre. How Rival Christians Came Together to Rescue Their Holiest Shrine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 79–80Google Scholar.

80 On the pro-British evolution of the Vatican's Middle Eastern policy during the second half of the 1920s and the 1930s, see Kreutz, Vatican Policy, 45.

81 Zanini, “Italia e Santa Sede di fronte ai disordini,” 421–423.

82 On these Muslim-Christian tensions, see Haiduc-Dale, Arab Christians, 103–109.

83 AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 108, fasc. 102, ff. 52–56, Valeri to Gasparri, September 18, 1929; and fasc. 103, ff. 3–6, Valeri to Gasparri, December 22, 1929.

84 Among many possible examples, see ADAGP, b. 2, fasc. 8, f. 116, archive note, July 14, 1937.

85 These kinds of suggestions, quite common in Valeri's reports, were particularly stressed in AAEESS, T. IV, pos. 108, fasc. 102, ff. 90–92, Valeri to Gasparri, December 29, 1929.

86 See AAEESS, Stati Ecclesiastici 4th period, pos. 474, fasc. 482, ff. 6–7, Testa to Pacelli, March 27, 1936.

87 On this decision and its consequences in Palestine, see Fouilloux, Étienne, “Comment la Congrégation orientale a-t-elle acquis un territoire? Le décret de 1938,” in Le gouvernement pontifical sous Pie XI: pratiques romaines et gestion de l'universel, ed. Pettinaroli, Laura (Rome: École française de Rome, 2013), 343–357Google Scholar.