Book review : A Politics of Peace: The Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs During the Pontificate of Benedict XV (1914-1922)

Abstract

When my friend and colleague, Rev. Dr Nicholas Doublet, asked me to review his book, A Politics of Peace, I accepted immediately. Three reasons motivated my acceptance. First, I am interested in ecclesiastical history. Secondly, this book is also a history of Church governance. It recounts in detail the history of one of the past Vatican’s institutions that dealt with the foreign affairs of the Roman Catholic Church called, The Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. Thirdly, this is a book about the international affairs of a small state. I use the term small state on purpose. During Benedict XV’s pontificate (1914- 1922), the Holy See had no fixed territory yet. After the Papal States were suppressed in 1870, the Papacy continued to function as a state. A number of Catholic European countries, such as Austria, Hungary and Bavaria, continued to recognize the Pope as head of state and kept a diplomatic relationship with the papacy. In other words, the Holy See had statehood but no sovereignty. This created what came to be known, in history, as the Questione Romana. [excerpt]