Czechoslovakia and the Holy See II/3.The Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1929-1931)
Abstract
This edition contains the complete collection of materials from the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs on the relationship between the Holy See and the Czechoslovak Republic during the nunciature of Monsignor Pietro Ciriaci. Ciriaci was appointed nuncio to Czechoslovakia on 15 February 1928 and held the position until 9 January 1934, when he was named nuncio to Lisbon.
The sources are from the Segreteria di Stato della Santa Sede, Sezione per i Rapporti con gli Stati - Archivio Storico, Congregazione degli Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari (The Secretariat of State of the Holy See, The Section for Relations with States - Historical Archives, The Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs) and the collection of the Rapporti delle Sessioni (Minutes of Meetings). The Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs existed under this name between 1814 and 1967, from which year until 1988 it operated under a different name.
The Congregation was in charge of important Church political issues concerning relations with other states. The meetings discussing Czechoslovakia took place between 1929 and 1931 and focused on two problematic areas: Ciriaci's criticism of the Prague Archbishop, František Kordač, and the realisation of the modus vivendi, namely the agreement between Czechoslovakia and the Holy See that was concluded on 2 February 1928.
The Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs dealt with the first question twice during the period of 1929 and 1931, the second occasion leading to the resignation of František Kordač from the Prague Archbishopric. The issues relating to the implementation of the modus vivendi were addressed at the June 1931 meeting of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, which was the first in a series of meetings on the subject.
The next five meetings, however, took place between 1934 and 1936, when Pietro Ciriaci was already the nuncio in Portugal. It was these negotiations that prepared the ground for the issuing of Pope Pius XI's papal bull on 2 September 1937.
The Ad ecclesiastici regiminis incrementum dealt with the external demarcation of the Czechoslovak dioceses in accordance with the state's borders with Austria, Hungary and Romania. Due to the resistance of the German government, the diocesan borders were not adjusted according to the state border with Germany in the interwar period.
During the pontificate of Pius XI, the Czechoslovak question does not appear in the material of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. For the first time, the material published from the meetings provides a detailed account of the internal Church processes that led to František Kordač leaving the Archdiocese of Prague.
Furthermore, the documents present a comprehensive picture of the conflicting and disparate demands of secular and ecclesiastical institutions, upon which an agreement needed to be reached for the reorganisation of the Czechoslovakian dioceses and archdioceses. There are two types of document relating to the meetings of the members of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.
The first group consists of background material called ponenza, which in the interwar period referred to a printed volume, usually marked sub secreto and which the members of the Congregation received prior to the meetings. The part usually entitled relazione is comprised of essential information on the issues to be discussed, and this type of material was often supplemented by other attached documents, such as letters from the nuncio and so on.
The second group of materials includes the minutes of meetings, which were presided over by the Secretary or the Undersecretary of the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. During the period 1929 and 1933 these entries were typed, in contrast to the handwritten manuscripts of the previous years.
In some cases, the collection also contains - usually handwritten - notes from cardinals, who were members of the Congregation, which they prepared in advance and brought to the meeting. The documents are published in their original languages, predominantly Italian, but some texts in the edition are also in French and in Latin.
Each document is annotated in Czech and with a commentary in the footnotes.