Act I, Scene 2
Morning, 1967. Stage is black. Light up. Corso and Orsini sitting at the table. They are finishing some coffee. During this scene, Orsini is hostile to Thomas, and increasingly so.
CORSO
(looking around the room, disgusted) Six months! Six months to the day we’ve been here in this room. Look at it! The remotest place in the Vatican. Looks like even the cleaning staff can’t find it. Looks like a medieval warehouse.
ORSINI
(laughs) In fact, it was being used as a warehouse. But they cleared it for us. Before that, it was a dormitory.
CORSO
Dormitory! You mean someone slept in this dump?
ORSINI
Jews. During the last months of the war. You see, Pope Pius was sheltering more than five thousand Jews. We were short of space. This was the best we could do.
CORSO
Touché, Silvano. Score one for team beatification. Tell me, you’ve worked here in the Vatican how long ... ?
ORSINI
Twenty-six years.
CORSO
Twenty-six years! Christ!
ORSINI
(dryly) Exactly.
CORSO
(chuckles) Okay, okay. What I was about to ask, since you know how this place works, how do you think we got assigned to investigate Pius the Twelfth?
ORSINI
Me? It’s the kind of thing I do here. I’m a functionary, a ...
CORSO
(with great scepticism) ... Yeah, I know, just a bureaucrat.
ORSINI
Just so. But what of you? Why do you think you were chosen?
CORSO
All I know is that when the Second Vatican Council ended back in 1965, I was packing to go back to the States. I got word that Cardinal Jenner wanted to see me. He told me about Pius’ being nominated for beatification, and asked me if I would accept the job of Devil’s Advocate. “Why me?” I asked.
ORSINI
What did he answer?
CORSO
Just, “You’re the right man for it.”
ORSINI
Did you ask him why?
CORSO
No. (Looking around in disgust at the room’s bleakness.) Wish I had.
ORSINI
Why did you accept it then?
CORSO
I was floored, flattered. But they were just setting me up – a priest from “Brookalino” against the descendant of a long line of Vatican lawyers ...
ORSINI
(laughing) There you go, again, reading too much into things.
CORSO
(pause) Maybe it’s the literature teacher in me – the training to read meanings into things.
ORSINI
Is that what you did before Vatican II?
CORSO
Un-huh, ever since the end of the war. And pastoral work. I like the combination of teaching the idealistic young and dealing with the worldly problems of their elders. Helps keep me balanced.
ORSINI
(with deliberate emphasis) A difficult balance, my friend. And during the war?
CORSO
I missed the first part of it. I was in a seminary. But when I was ordained back in late 1943, I felt I had to be part of it. So I enlisted as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy.
ORSINI
Where were you assigned?
CORSO
The Pacific. There were still plenty of beaches to be taken, so I asked to be detached to the Marines.
ORSINI
You experienced the war then, up-close?
CORSO
Close enough to help the corpsmen with the wounded, and give last rites to a lot of boys just out of high school. Sometimes – well, you had to be imaginative about last rites when all you found was a body part or two. What about you, Silvano, where were you?
ORSINI
Here in the Vatican. And elsewhere in Italy. It was the same as in the Pacific. Death and suffering.
CORSO
Alright then. Let’s get to our man this morning. (Orsini begins to get up, but Corso stops him.) I asked for this witness, so let me get him. (Corso exits the door, stage right. Orsini puts the coffee tray out of sight in the cupboard. Corso returns a moment later with Harris Wolcott Thomas. Introducing Thomas to Orisini.) Harris Wolcott Thomas, meet Father Silvano Orsini. (Orsini and Thomas shake hands and exchange greetings. Corso motions Thomas to the guests’ chair, and all three sit down. Corso turns on the tape recorder.) It’s good of you to come all the way from the States, Mr. Thomas.
THOMAS
Thanks.
CORSO
I’m curious, what made you change your mind about giving us your testimony?
THOMAS
Well, when your first invited me – what was it, about eighteen months ago ... ? (Corso nods.) At that time I was still working for the U.S. Department of State, so I wasn’t free to talk. But since then, I’ve retired. And I’m writing my memoirs. So whatever I tell you here will be published in a couple of years anyway. I ask only that you keep it confidential until my book comes out.
CORSO
(laughs) You can be sure of that! Everything that’s said in this room will be kept sealed here in the Vatican, and, I assure you, for much longer than a couple of years. Now, Mr. Thomas how did you come to know Pope Pius the Twelfth?
THOMAS
I was a career diplomat in the State Department, starting in the 1930s. I was put on the Italian Desk, with a special assignment to the Vatican State.
CORSO
Did you have meetings with Pope Pius?
THOMAS
Oh yes, several times.
CORSO
If you would, please give us your assessment of him – I mean as an individual.
THOMAS
(thoughtfully) Well, he was highly gifted, extremely intelligent, and very knowledgeable about world affairs – expert, in fact. Very methodical in his approach to things. He was also a very engaging man, and even very charming at times. But he had a great aversion to acting on emotion or on impulse. And distrusted anyone who did. He was a complete diplomat, and was able to analyze things dispassionately. But it was very hard to read him.
CORSO
Why?
THOMAS
He liked to keep things quiet, to conduct things in deep confidence – he played everything close to his chest. Very close. And he ...
ORSINI
(interrupting, challenging) ... In other words, His Holiness was discreet as befits a man who had years of experience as an effective, successful diplomat. And as a pope. Correct?
THOMAS
Oh yes, certainly as a diplomat. As for pope – well, gentlemen, that’s your line of work.
CORSO
Yes, but you’re right about him keeping things to himself. In going through the archives here, I’ve found out much of what he did, but not why he did it. Seems he seldom put his reasons on paper, or told them to others. Perhaps you might help us here. Are you familiar with his career as a diplomat, before he became pope?
THOMAS
Yes, I spent years studying his career before he was elected in 1939. He had been very successful in serving the interests of the Vatican State. And continuing as pope. In fact, when his Secretary of State died in 1944, Pius became his own Secretary of State. And before this – throughout his pontificate – Pius insisted on handling certain diplomatic matters himself.
CORSO
Can you give us some examples?
THOMAS
The most notable one, I guess, was Germany. Pius insisted from the moment he became pope on personally taking charge of all Vatican relations with Germany.
ORSINI
His Holiness became pope in March of 1939, just as the world was about to go to war. He was tireless in his efforts to keep the peace, wasn’t he? Germany was critical in this regard, wasn’t it?
THOMAS
Yes.
ORSINI
So his personal attention to Germany was natural, wasn’t it?
THOMAS
Yes.
CORSO
Can you give us some examples of his diplomatic successes, before he became pope?
THOMAS
There were many. Let’s see – his most outstanding, of course, were the Concordats. They guaranteed the rights and privileges of the Catholic Church in various countries. The most important was the one he signed was with Hitler in 1933. Pacelli – Cardinal Pacelli – got a good deal, at least on paper. The German Reich was committed to financing Catholic schools and other Church functions in Germany.
CORSO
A lot of money?
THOMAS
Well, sixty percent of Germany was Catholic, you see.
CORSO
Sixty percent! And what did Hitler get in return?
THOMAS
We can see what Hitler understood he got. Later, on March 11, 1940, Hitler reminded Pope Pius that under the 1933 Concordat the Church was to – well, I have the exact words here. (He takes a paper from his briefcase, and reads from it.) “It must be borne in mind that the understanding between National Socialism and the Catholic Church depends on one cardinal prerequisite, namely, that the Catholic clergy in Germany renounce all political activity in any shape or form and confine themselves exclusively to the cure of souls, which alone is their concern.”
ORSINI
From what are you reading?
THOMAS
The German Archives. You see, after the war, we captured them.
ORSINI
And why did Hitler have to remind His Holiness of this?
THOMAS
Hitler said in 1940 that over 7,000 priests had broken the law, but he had generously quashed the cases against them. It was all a smokescreen, of course. Hitler’s message was meant to deflect the Vatican’s complaints that Germany was not living up to the terms of the 1933 Concordat, which it was not. In fact, Hitler began violations of the treaty almost as soon as it was signed.
CORSO
The Vatican, then, did make protests to Hitler when it had cause?
THOMAS
Oh, yes, of course, on many occasions.
CORSO
Can you give us another example?
THOMAS
Let me see. In 1942, the Vatican claimed that all rights and privileges guaranteed the Church under the 1933 Concordat also were applicable to the countries which Hitler had annexed or conquered. Hitler said “no.”
CORSO
So Pius’ protests to Hitler were on behalf of the Church’s interests?
ORSINI
(to Corso) You make it sound as if that was wrong! The purpose of concordats is to ensure Church rights, even in nations hostile to the Church.
CORSO
I agree – so far. Tell me, Mr. Thomas, did the Vatican intercede when a few Catholic clergy in Germany protested against Nazism?
THOMAS
Not to my knowledge. For example, on March 3, 1942, Bishop von Preysing protested publicly from the pulpit of the Berlin Cathedral that the Nazis’ were persecuting Catholic clergy and laymen. The Vatican didn’t back him – it remained silent.
CORSO
And what of the murder of Polish priests in Poland?
THOMAS
(becoming grave) Well, the first news of this reached the Vatican just after the Nazis shot 700 priests. And also that they had murdered thousands of mental patients – including Germans. The Nazis waited to see what Pius’ reaction would be.
CORSO
And what was it?
THOMAS
The day after getting the news of all this, on March 4, Pius sent a message to a prominent German who happened to be in Rome ... (Thomas pauses.)
CORSO
And?
THOMAS
The man was the General Manager of the Berlin State Opera, which was performing in Rome at the time. (Thomas again pauses.)
CORSO
(impatiently) And?
THOMAS
I hesitate to say this ... The Pope told him that he had always loved the troupe’s performance of Wagner’s operas. Pius said, if it were possible, he’d be very pleased if a concert by the opera company could be arranged in the Vatican before it left Rome.
ORSINI
(exploding) This is outrageous! Your linking the two matters is an attempt to smear the Holy Father, nothing more and nothing less!
CORSO
Alright, then, let’s forget about the Berlin Opera. Mr. Thomas, did Pius give any reason for not protesting the shooting of the priests and the murder of the mentally ill?
THOMAS
Yes, he said that to protest would only bring down worse atrocities against Catholics. He said the Nazis would retaliate by committing worse outrages, in Germany, in Poland and other countries occupied by the Germans.
CORSO
In 1940, Pius gave this excuse knowing that the Germans were also holding three thousand more Polish priests in concentration camps, and that his silence would doom them?
THOMAS
Yes.
CORSO
Didn’t he in fact use this excuse later also?
ORSINI
“Reason!” Not “excuse.” This was a valid reason. His Holiness’ sacred duty, his paramount sacred duty, was to preserve the true Church of Christ.
CORSO
Okay, “reason.” Mr. Thomas?
THOMAS
Yes. Restraint in order not to provoke Nazi reprisals was a consistent policy of his.
CORSO
So, his interest again was to protect the institution of the Church, at the expense of individual Catholics ...
ORSINI
(interrupting) ... The Vatican was neutral in World War II, and had proclaimed its neutrality.
CORSO
How did this go down in the countries conquered by the Germans?
THOMAS
Not very well. I guess you can sum it up in a letter that a French cardinal, Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, wrote to another French cardinal, Emmanuel Cardinal Suhard. (Thomas searches in his briefcase for the letter, and finds it.) Here it is. The letter is dated June 10, 1940. Cardinal Tisserant wrote that it was imperative to get over the illusion that, and I quote, “this war is a war like the wars of times gone by. Fascist ideology and Hitlerism have transformed the consciences of the young, and those under thirty-five are willing to commit any crime for any purpose ordered by their leader.” Cardinal Tisserant goes on to say that for seven months he had attempted to get Pope Pius to recognize this and act on it. Quote, “I have persistently requested the Holy See to issue an encyclical on the duty of the individual to obey the dictates of his conscience, because this is the vital point of Christianity.” But Tisserant’s pleas fell on Pius’ deaf ears. Tisserant wrote, quote: “I fear history may have reason to reproach the Holy See with having pursued a policy of convenience to itself and very little else.”
CORSO
(holding up a document) But Pius did speak up – at least about something. Mr. Thomas, on October 18, 1939, a month after Hitler invaded Poland, Pius met with the Ambassador from Lithuania. Let me read what His Holiness had to say, and I quote: “Our office does not permit us to close Our eyes when new and immeasurable dangers threaten the salvation of souls itself; when the face of Europe, Christian in all its fundamental traits, is darkened by a sinister shadow, closer and more menacing every day – the shadow of the thought and works of the enemies of God.” Mr. Thomas, are you familiar with this?
THOMAS
Yes.
CORSO
What was Pius talking about?
THOMAS
Communism, and the Soviet Union. As a matter of fact, at about the same time, a reporter for the New York Times named Camille Cianfarra wrote that Pius had also met with Hitler’s Foreign Minister and discussed Germany making peace with Britain on the basis of Germany being given the controlling hand in Central and Eastern Europe, and of then going on to the “liberation or Russia.”
CORSO
So much for neutrality ...
ORSINI
(interrupting) You are ...
CORSO
(ignoring Orsini) This was at time when England stood alone against Hitler, when Churchill had to bludgeon his own cabinet into continuing fighting the Nazis and not making peace with them – as Hitler wanted. As Pius wanted. Pius would have left Nazism in control of all of western and central Europe.
ORSINI
He was just facing reality! Almost everyone at the time thought that the Germans had won the war. As you say, even Mr. Churchill’s cabinet felt this way. And the isolationists in your country, and ...
CORSO
... And to hell with the fact that Nazism would rule Europe? Tell me, wasn’t Nazism a monstrous enemy of Christianity and of mankind? And a Satanic enemy of God Himself? What do you think, Mr. Thomas?
THOMAS
It sure as hell was!
CORSO
(in angry disgust) And the Holy Father, entrusted with my own Catholic faith, didn’t see it that way?
ORSINI
Pius was elected pope to stop the war which was coming – to be the pope of peace, or failing that, to save the Church from the devastation that the war would bring, that the war did bring! Why do you think it took the College of Cardinals only one day to elect him? That hadn’t happened in three centuries.
CORSO
Okay, let’s look at “Pius The Peacekeeper.” Mr. Thomas, please describe to us his effort to prevent war in the first five months of his pontificate, before Germany invaded Poland.
THOMAS
It consisted mostly – I’d say entirely – of his reaching out to Germany.
ORSINI
But of course! Germany was the volatile nation at that time.
THOMAS
True, but Pius did more than just focus on Germany – he went out of his way to be conciliatory to Hitler.
CORSO
How?
THOMAS
Both in form and in substance. As soon as he became pope, he made a point of sending a warm letter to Hitler. (Thomas reaches into his briefcase and takes out a copy of the letter, from which he reads excerpts.) He said that in his years as Nuncio in Germany, he sought with Germany, quote, to “reach a goal,” and that goal was, and I quote again, “a spirit of collaboration in the interests of both parties.” Pius then went on to say that now that he was Pope, quote, “the responsibilities of Our pastoral function have increased Our opportunities and strengthened Our purpose, how much more ardently We wish to reach that goal.”
ORSINI
At that time, Pius was trying to deter Hitler from plunging the world into war! What would you have had him say? Would the cause of peace have been advanced by his provoking Hitler instead?
CORSO
(to Orsini) Tell me, what exactly, in God’s name, could be the common interests of both Christianity and Nazism?
ORSINI
The avoidance of war, pure and simple! That was what Pius was pursuing. While there was peace, it was always possible that Germany might change. Who knows, Hitler could be overthrown perhaps, or simply have a heart attack and die. Where there is peace, there is hope!
THOMAS
War was inevitable.
ORSINI
Ah! “War was inevitable.” Tell me, what would have been the effects on the Catholic Church in Germany if Pius had become an adversary of Hitler during wartime?
THOMAS
Hitler would have cracked down on the German Church – he had already crushed dissenting Catholics by that time.
ORSINI
So the consequences of Pius challenging Hitler would have only made it more difficult for the Church to fulfil its mission to minister to the spiritual well-being of its faithful in Germany.
CORSO
Again, we’re getting the fear of retaliation as an excuse for moral cowardice! The Pope’s moral duty, any pope’s duty, is to forcefully oppose evil – and there never was a greater evil than Nazism.
ORSINI
And what would have been the situation in Germany had Pius done so? What ...
CORSO
(interrupting) We’ll never know, will we!
ORSINI
Not so, we do know – be truthful, its not hard to imagine! Had Pius become an open opponent of Hitler, it would have meant schism in the German Church – pro-Hitler Catholic against anti-Hitler Catholic, all the easier for Hitler to crush! Tell us, Mr. Thomas, weren’t there very powerful men in the Nazi regime who hated Catholicism? Men who would have welcomed the opportunity to divide the Church in Germany and then destroy it altogether? Men like Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Alfred Rosenberg ...
THOMAS
That’s true. But it’s also true that during his entire rule in Germany, Hitler didn’t want a major open conflict with the Vatican. He too didn’t want to divide German against German, for his own obvious reasons.
ORSINI
But we didn’t know that, and Pius didn’t know it, until after the war, when, as you said, the Allies captured much of the German Achieves.
THOMAS
I’m not so sure. The archives show that the Germans had a lot of respect for Pius’ abilities to play international politics. As you said, Father Orsini, that’s probably why the Cardinals so quickly made him pope in 1939.
CORSO
Yes, this pope was an adroit player at international politics – despite the Church’s neutrality – an extraordinarily adroit player. And not just to avoid war! He tried to maneuver the war toward his goals, political goals!
ORSINI
Again? Once again you are painting His Holiness with too broad a brush to make him appear to favor Hitler.
CORSO
On the contrary – I was referring to a period when Pius leaned against Hitler. Mr. Thomas, during the long diplomatic dance between Pius and Hitler, did Pius ever establish contact with forces in Germany opposed to Hitler?
THOMAS
Yes he did. It was for some months in 1939 and early in 1940.
CORSO
This was the period of the Hitler-Stalin NonAggression Pact, wasn’t it?
THOMAS
Yes.
CORSO
So Pius had contact with anti-Hitler Germans only when Hitler seemed to be an ally of Stalin, then cut them off when it was clear that Hitler was still an enemy of the USSR, a mortal threat to Communism. Is that a fair reading of the facts, Mr. Thomas?
THOMAS
I think so.
ORSINI
No, it is not! It is a selective marshalling of only those facts meant to malign Pope Pius. Pius was at the time protesting Germany’s continuing violations of the Concordat with the Church. That was the motivation of his opening to the Hitler’s opponents.
THOMAS
In my opinion, both issues motivated Pius. He was guarding the interests of the Church in Germany, and he was unhappy with Hitler for signing an alliance with Stalin. You have to understand, Father Orsini, that Pius’s fear of Communism was a life-long obsession.
ORSINI
(nastily) To his credit, wasn’t it? Or are you one of those liberal Americans who are apologists for Russia’s murderous system?
THOMAS
(affronted) As a matter of fact, I’ve been anti-Communist all my life! I’m known in Washington as an unabashed Cold-Warrior, and proud of it.
ORSINI
Well, so was His Holiness!
THOMAS
I beg to make a distinction between us. I was also an enemy of Fascism and Nazism!
ORSINI
(angry) Then let me make a distinction! Pius did not have vast armies and navies to use to obtain his ends. Nor, if he had, would he have killed tens of millions of people to do it!
THOMAS
(coldly) My country fought fascism all over the world and crushed it! Thank God for that! (There is an awkward silence. Thomas and Orsini are clearly fuming.)
CORSO
(trying to cool off the palpable anger in the room) Please, Mr. Thomas, indulge us. This process of trying to get at the truth is difficult for all of us ... The topic we’ve been assigned is like a minefield. Would you like to take a break?
THOMAS
That’s alright, no.
CORSO
Then, please, continue your account of Pius’s views of the communists during the war.
THOMAS
There were two more climactic moments to come. The first was the surrender of the Wehrmacht to the Soviets at Stalingrad. It became clear that the Germans might lose the war against Russia – and probably would. Pius told a Finnish diplomat he favored a separate truce at that point between the Western Allies and Germany. Separate, of course, from the Russians ...
ORSINI
Once again, all this is from the German Achieves, correct?
THOMAS
Yes.
CORSO
And once again, it shows Pius eager to favor Hitler in order to get Germany to defeat Communism. You mention two climactic events, Mr. Thomas. Stalingrad was one. What was the second?
THOMAS
The overthrow of Mussolini – six months after Stalingrad. The Vatican was very concerned that with the demise of the Fascist Government, the Italian Communist Party was making a move to take control of the country.
ORSINI
And wasn’t it, Mr. Thomas?
THOMAS
Yes.
CORSO
What did Pius do about it?
THOMAS
The Vatican Curia asked the new Government of Italy to be lenient with Mussolini. In one document, the Vatican appealed that the fate of Europe depended on the victorious resistance by Germany against the Red Army. Pius said the German Army was the only possible bulwark – against Bolshevism – he used the Italian word, baluardo, And should this bulwark break, European culture would be finished.
ORSINI
Yet again, a highly selective choice of so-called “facts.” Mr. Thomas, isn’t it true that Pius had been very actively seeking a peace between Italy and the Allies?
THOMAS
Yes.
ORSINI
And isn’t it true that Pius was trying to get both Germany and the Allies to withdraw their troops from Italy?
CORSO
So that the all those German divisions could be sent to the Russian front.
ORSINI
So as to prevent the incredible blood-bath that washed over Italy! The fight that was to take place between the Allies and the Wehrmacht destroyed Italy. Tell me, Mr. Thomas, how many American casualties were there in the Italian Campaign?
THOMAS
Many thousands. Too many. Not to mention the casualties of our Allies. But Pius’ motive here also included his desire to get the Allies and Germany to come to a peace and together fight the Russians. There’s other evidence of this. Pius sent an envoy, a layman named Enrico Galleazzi, to Francis Spellman in New York to instruct him to use his influence to bring about a rapprochement between the Western Allies and Germany, and turn them against the USSR.
CORSO
Mr. Thomas, at that point, would any man whose judgement was intact have seriously considered that the Western Allies would kiss and make up with Hitler and go on to a holy war against the USSR? Would any man except one insanely obsessed with Communism believe that?
THOMAS
Not in my opinion.
ORSINI
Now you are not only a moral authority, Mr. Thomas, but a psychiatric one, like Father Corso.
THOMAS
I can put two and two together and get four, Father Orsini.
ORSINI
Or fourteen, or forty – or whatever serves your antipathy toward His Holiness. Tell me, Mr. Thomas, where were you educated?
THOMAS
(puzzled) College?
ORSINI
Yes.
THOMAS
Princeton.
ORSINI
And before that?
THOMAS
Exeter.
ORSINI
And of what faith are you?
THOMAS
Episcopalian.
CORSO
Silvano, please, what has this ...
ORSINI
I’ll tell you! Mr. Thomas, in your memoirs, will you write of the cabal there was at your State Department?
THOMAS
What cabal?
ORSINI
The cabal that stifled all attempts in the 1930s to let Jews escape to the United States. The anti-Semitic cabal. Surely you remember it? The one led by Breckinridge Long – the ... what’s the phrase? ... oh yes, the “Old Boys Club.” The nativist group who despised Jews. And Catholics too. Breckinridge Long. Who killed every proposal for America to help Jews before the war – and during it too.
THOMAS
(for the first time thrown off his composure) I ... I know nothing about any such thing.
ORSINI
Then you don’t know, I suppose, that scapegoating Pius would soothe America’s conscience that it didn’t lift a finger to help Jews. America wouldn’t even bomb the crematoria at Auschwitz. And will you write of your President Roosevelt’s indifference to the Jews? He did nothing until near the end – and then next to nothing!
THOMAS
(coldly) You seem to know more about it than I do.
CORSO
(to Orsini) Okay, so there are anti-Semitic bigots in America. And anti-Catholics. What’s your point?
ORSINI
My point is that setting Jews against Catholics is just what would serve them both. Tell me, Mr. Thomas, how many Jews did the United States take in during the Hitler persecution?
THOMAS
I have a feeling you know.
ORSINI
In the eight years from 1933 to 1941, only 160,000. When millions clamored to get in. (Imitating an American accent.) Oh, we’ll take your Albert Einsteins, but not your ... what’s the Ivy League phrase? Oh yes, not your average pushy Jews! (Pause. Silence.)
CORSO
(to Orsini) Is that all?
ORSINI
I’d say it’s quite enough.
CORSO
Mr. Thomas, let’s go for a moment to the period after the war – Pius was Pope for another thirteen years. Did he at that time come out publicly against the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe?
THOMAS
Yes, often, and very forcefully!
CORSO
And did the Communist governments retaliate?
THOMAS
Oh, yes!
CORSO
They cracked down hard on the Church for this, right? And individual Catholics, such as the famous case of Cardinal Mindszenty?
THOMAS
Yes. But that’s the least of it. The Communist governments all over Eastern Europe closed Catholic schools, forbade all Catholic teachings outside of Churches, and closed seminaries or restricted them. In countries like the Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and Romania, thousands of Catholics were forced to convert to state-controlled Orthodox churches. Many Catholic priests and nuns were given the choice of renouncing the pope or prison.
CORSO
How did Pius react to this? Did he back down? Did he call off his public fight against Communism?
THOMAS
Hell no! He said – I remember his exact words, “If We were silent, We would have to fear God’s judgement more.” Pius was fierce and unrelenting in his post-war struggle against Communism, and willing to suffer the consequences. At one point, he issued three public denunciations of the Communist Government in Hungary in ten days!
ORSINI
One war at a time – that was Pius’ position! First Nazism, then Communism. Has that not been the position of your Government too?
CORSO
(He sighs. He looks at His wrist watch) Ten after six. (He gets up and goes to the cupboard. He takes a bottle of expensive Scotch and three whiskey glasses from it.) I need a drink. (He pours Scotch into a glass. He extends the glass in invitation to Thomas and Orsini.) Join me, gentlemen? (Thomas takes the glass, and Corso turns to pour another. Light fades to black.)