Chapter Thirteen
The Flood and the Curse
The Church and the Communists
Following the defeat of the Axis Powers in 1945, a tremendous conflict broke out in Italy between the Communists and the democratic parties for postwar control of Italy. Pius XII had seen the massive persecution of the Eastern European Church, as well as the Catholic Church in China, Spain, and elsewhere, by the Communists. He had personally witnessed and nearly been killed in a 1919 massacre by the Communists in Munich. He was deeply alarmed that the Communists were filling the vacuum left in Italy by the Fascists. To counteract the Communists, Pius XII constructed church schools and family centers in the heart of devastated urban areas with a strong Communist presence. The schools would not only serve a humanitarian purpose, but would also combat the otherwise omnipresent Communist party, providing an alternative to Communism. Turning once again to Montini, McGeough, Carroll, and Strake, the Church began construction of church schools and family centers in poor, largely Communist areas.129
Garbatella, an impoverished neighborhood in the south of Rome, is the subject of an Italian political proverb: “As goes Garbatella, so goes Rome. As goes Rome, so goes Italy.” So the very first church the Three Amigos and Strake built was Saint Philip Neri in Garbatella. In a country full of spectacular but increasingly empty cathedrals, this new church was smaller and family-oriented, modeled on the more vigorous American churches. Unlike the great cathedrals, it was not simply a place of worship, but a center for education and many family activities. This was the pope’s answer to the Communists. Based on its success, more than thirty-eight other family-oriented churches were quickly built throughout Italy. The postwar Catholic Church in Italy was reinvigorated by these new churches.
In the 1948 Italian elections, the Communist Party sought to take power. Time magazine said Italy was “on the brink of catastrophe.”130 The Communists had just seized Czechoslovakia in a February 1948 coup. Poland, Hungary, Romania, and the Baltic States were all occupied, and Berlin was blockaded by Stalin’s order and kept alive only by an American airlift. It appeared that all of Western Europe might crumble to Stalin. Had the Communists taken power in Italy, it would likely have outflanked and destroyed NATO. It is probable that the future of Europe hung in the balance based on the outcome of the 1948 Italian elections. A Communist victory was avoided after Pius XII spoke against the party. The Communists carried much of Northern Italy but were crushed everywhere else. The old proverb proved true: Garbatella voted against the Communists, followed by Rome and the rest of Italy. At least one contemporary newspaper account attributed the salvation of Italy to Montini and “the three Americans” — Strake, Carroll, and McGeough.131
The Italian Church itself enjoyed a new burst of energy for a time, engaging with families through these new churches. At Saint Philip Neri in Garbatella, portraits of George Strake and Walter Carroll today sit side by side, a testimony to their great contribution. (Strake in his portrait wears a quizzical look, perhaps wondering how a Texas Wildcatter ended up in Garbatella.)
Through all the years of clever maneuvering by the Three Amigos and turmoil with the Fascists, Nazis, and Communists, the excavations for Peter’s tomb and their results continued to be held in strict secrecy, and the presumed relics of Peter continued to rest in a box in Pius XII’s apartment.
The Curse and the Flood — 1949
Since the early days of the basilica, writings claimed that a peculiar curse was associated with any attempt to excavate or disturb Peter’s bones.132 Every historical attempt to find Peter’s relics had faced unexplainable and puzzling events. Pope Urban VIII, who had ordered the initial excavation for the Bernini baldacchino in the seventeenth century, himself fell ill, and many excavators at that time unexpectedly died while working in the Necropolis. Roman citizens (never passing on a good superstition) linked the proximity of these inexplicable events with a curse.133
The superstitious belief that a curse follows those who disturb graves is hardly a new one. The Roman belief in such a curse probably protected Peter’s grave during the great early persecutions of Rome. Even the tombstone of the great William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon bears the inscription:
Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbeare
To digg the dust enclosed heare;
Bleste be the man that spares thes stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.134
The line between archeologists and grave robbers is sometimes a narrow one. Many of the great tombs of history — for example, that of Genghis Khan — remain undiscovered or unopened partly because of fear or aversion. Most of those responsible for the excavation of Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt in 1922 died remarkably quick deaths — attributed by the superstitious to the so-called Curse of Tut.
It was thus no surprise to superstitious workmen when disaster befell the Necropolis in 1949. During the fall of that year, immense rains inundated Italy and Rome. The Tiber rose to flood stage, but was still held within its banks by high stone embankments. In ancient times, before the embankments were built, Rome was regularly flooded by the Tiber. Now, suddenly and inexplicably, the Necropolis began to fill with water as if it alone, and not its surroundings, had returned to ancient times. Pumps were brought in, but could not keep up with the rising waters, which reached three to four feet deep in the Necropolis. It appeared the work of a decade and preserved antiquities of ancient Rome would be lost. Was it a special curse — St. Peter’s curse? Finally, when all seemed hopeless, the collapse of an ancient pipe was discovered as the source of the flood.135 With repairs, the water slowly receded and the Necropolis was saved, although not without damage. The secret excavations resumed, while the outside world remained completely oblivious to both the crisis and the excavations.
Beyond question, the excavators must have chafed at Pius’s decade-long insistence on secrecy. Having discovered the great family tombs completely intact, and believing they had discovered Peter himself, they wanted fame and renown for their work.
The long wait ended on August 22, 1949, when an Italian journalist, Camille Gianfara (whose sources are still secret and unknown), published the story of the excavations.136 The New York Times carried a front-page story headlined, “BONES OF ST. PETER FOUND.”137 The cover of Time magazine also proclaimed the discovery.
Over a year later, Pius XII broke his silence in a radio address. He affirmed that Peter’s tomb had been found. He also indicated that human bones had been found, but needed additional testing. Shortly after his radio address in 1950, Pius invited George Strake and his family to Rome to celebrate the great success. The Strakes met in Rome with Montini, Kaas, McGeough, and others involved in the successful excavation. They met directly with Pius XII, who offered the Church’s thanks for Strake’s help. Ferrua and the excavators took bows for their accomplishments. George Strake was elated that his great project had been a wonderful success, validating his own beliefs and assisting the Church he so deeply loved. The Strakes believed the trip one of the great moments of their lives. Publicly, George Strake still kept his involvement wholly secret, and the Church, likewise, honored his anonymity.
Death of Walter Carroll
The Strakes were unable to meet with Walter Carroll — their friend and contact for the past decade. Earlier in 1950, Carroll’s great run as the genius behind impossible schemes had ended. As his biographer George Kemon wrote, he “lived to accomplish these tasks in pursuit of peace in Europe, and after the war was over, he laid down and died.”138 His brave heart, which had fought coronary illness since childhood, stopped in Washington, D.C.
Tributes flowed from all over the world: President Truman, General Mark Clark, Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson (chief prosecutor at Nuremberg), and even an Italian prisoner at Dachau who recalled Carroll’s timely, life-saving arrival there.139 Montini and McGeough were deeply stricken by the loss of their great and brave friend. In September 1951, Montini and McGeough visited the United States.140 Montini is quoted as telling Carroll’s mother, “I have made a pilgrimage to the grave of my friend.”141 Together with McGeough he visited the Pittsburgh grave of their mutual friend, wartime comrade, and conspirator in a variety of concealed activities. Carroll’s early death left a hole in Montini’s heart. In later years, even as Pope Paul VI, he would on occasion visit with Carroll’s brothers and no doubt express his sense of loss at brave Walter Carroll’s premature death after surviving World War II.142
In the 1950s, George Strake, with other friends of Walter Carroll, financed the building of a large bell tower at Carroll’s home church in Pittsburgh. Visitors today still describe the architecture of the bell tower and the church as stunning. The builders found it appropriate because Walter Carroll was a bell for decency and truth in an uncertain world. Now, with the bell ringing at dawn and dusk, they could look up and know he had gone to a wonderful place.
In 1951, Montini traveled across the United States by car, delighted to experience this strange country he had learned so much about from Carroll. Montini and McGeough drove all the way from Pittsburgh to Colorado to visit George Strake on his 1,200-acre estate at Glen Eyrie. For several days, they relived with the Strakes their wartime stories, spoke much of brave Walter Carroll and his schemes, and filled Strake in on the details of the apparently successful location of Peter’s relics. They enjoyed together the magic of the Rockies, Queen’s Canyon, Eagle Lake, and Glen Eyrie. The Strakes retain to this day the bed in which the future pope slept and occasionally offer the use of it to visitors.
The great mystery of Peter appeared solved. The story was closed — until a difficult and troublesome woman of great capability with an obsession for truth appeared on the scene. In reality, the greatest discoveries lay ahead — not behind. It would be Margherita Guarducci, not Ferrua and the excavators, who would make them.