The Pope and Mussolini

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photograph credit col1.1
)

Copyright © 2014 by David I. Kertzer

Maps copyright © 2014 by Laura Hartman Maestro

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint and division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

RANDOM HOUSE and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Kertzer, David I.
The Pope and Mussolini : the secret history of Pius XI and the rise of
Fascism in Europe / David I. Kertzer.
pages   cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8129-9346-2
eBook ISBN 978-0-679-64553-5
1. Pius XI, Pope, 1857–1939. 2. Mussolini, Benito, 1883–1945.
3. Fascism and the Catholic Church—Italy I. Title.
BX1377.K47 2014 322′.1094509042—dc23   2013019402

www.atrandom.com

Jacket design: Andrea Geremia
Jacket photograph: © Jeffrey Barry/Flickr/Getty images

Web assets: Excerpted from
The Pope and Mussolini
by David I. Kertzer, copyright © 2014 by David I. Kertzer. Maps copyright © 2014 by Laura Hartman Maestro. Published by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York

v3.1

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Maps

Cast of Characters

List of Publications and Organizations

PROLOGUE: ROME, 1939

PART ONE
THE POPE AND THE DICTATOR

  
1.
A New Pope

  
2.
The March on Rome

  
3.
The Fatal Embrace

  
4.
Born to Command

  
5.
Rising from the Tomb

  
6.
The Dictatorship

  
7.
Assassins, Pederasts, and Spies

  
8.
The Pact

PART TWO
ENEMIES IN COMMON

  9.
The Savior

10.
Eating an Artichoke

11.
The Return of the Native Son

12.
Cardinal Pacelli Hangs On

13.
Mussolini Is Always Right

14.
The Protestant Enemy and the Jews

15.
Hitler, Mussolini, and the Pope

16.
Crossing the Border

17.
Enemies in Common

18.
Dreams of Glory

PART THREE
MUSSOLINI, HITLER, AND THE JEWS

19.
Attacking Hitler

20.
Viva Il Duce!

21.
Hitler in Rome

22.
A Surprising Mission

23.
The Secret Deal

24.
The Racial Laws

25.
The Final Battle

26.
Faith in the King

27.
A Convenient Death

28.
A Dark Cloud Lifts

29.
Heading Toward Disaster

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Notes

References

Photograph Credits

Other Books by This Author

About the Author

MAPS
of
CENTRAL ROME
and
VATICAN CITY

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HERE
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.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

BALBO, ITALO
(1896–1940) The swashbuckling Fascist boss of the city of Ferrara, Balbo was one of the leaders of the 1922 March on Rome. President Roosevelt awarded Balbo a Distinguished Flying Cross in 1933 when he led an expedition of twenty-four seaplanes to the United States. While his aerial heroics won him great popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, they sparked Mussolini’s jealousy.

POPE BENEDICT XV (GIACOMO DELLA CHIESA)
(1854–1922) Born to an aristocratic family in Genoa, Giacomo Della Chiesa rose to become archbishop of Bologna in 1913. Despite his nonpapal appearance, he was elected to succeed Pius X in 1914. He dismantled his predecessor’s fierce antimodernist crusade and clerical spy force but failed in his efforts to play an effective role as peacemaker during and after the Great War.

BAUDRILLART, ALFRED
(1859–1942) Catholic scholar and longtime head of the Catholic University of Paris, Baudrillart was named a bishop in 1921 and a cardinal in 1935. Keeper of a precious diary, Baudrillart worried over the intrigue surrounding the ailing Pope Pius XI as Mussolini solidified his alliance with Hitler.

BORGONGINI-DUCA, FRANCESCO
(1884–1954) Born in Rome, Borgongini was appointed in 1921 to be secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, one of two key positions under the Vatican secretary of state. There he dealt with international affairs despite never having lived outside Rome. In 1929 Pius XI named him the Vatican’s first nuncio or ambassador to Italy, a position he would occupy for over two decades. Devout
and unworldly, Borgongini was an irresistible target for Mussolini’s teasing.

BUFFARINI GUIDI, GUIDO
(1895–1945) Elected Fascist mayor of Pisa in 1923 at age twenty-eight, Buffarini became Mussolini’s undersecretary for internal affairs ten years later, responsible for the national police. A corrupt, fat bully, he took on ever greater power in the late 1930s, freeing Mussolini to focus on expanding his newly acquired Italian empire.