THE VATICAN, 13 November 1945 SECRETARIAT OF STATE OF HIS HOLINESS
1. March 15, 1943—His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio in Berlin delivered to the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Note of the Most Eminent Cardinal Maglione to His Excellency von Ribbentrop.
2. March 17, 1943—The Note was returned to the Nuncio, it being said to him that the Note had been read in the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that it had not been forwarded to the Foreign Minister since it concerned matters which did not relate to the German Reich.
3. This communication having been received, the Holy See on April 17, 1943 sent to the Nuncio the instructions contained in the Despatch, copy of which is attached. (Annex No. 1).
4. The Nuncio carried out these instructions, sending to Herr von Ribbentrop on May 5, 1943 the letter, of which a copy is attached .(Annex 2).
5. Herr von Ribbentrop replied to the Apostolic Nuncio by letter dated May 25, 1943 (Annex No. 3).
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6. To the Nuncio in Berlin who had forwarded Herr von ftibben-trop's reply the Most Eminent Cardinal Maglione sent Despatch No. 4618/43 of July 20, 1943 setting forth the conclusions of the Holy See (Annex No. 4).
The copies here attached are authentic.
Domenico Tardini
COPY
Annex No. 1
SECRETARIAT OF STATE OF HIS HOLINESS
N. 2457/43 From the Vatican, April 17, 1943
To His Most Reverend Excellency
Monsignor Cesare Orsenigo
Apostolic Nuncio
Berlin
Very Reverend Excellency:
In Communication No. 2431 of March 17 last Your Very Reverend Excellency reported that the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had given back to you the letter (N. 1063/43 dated March 2, 1943) addressed by me to Minister von Ribbentrop regarding the serious and systematic difficulties which, in some territories subject to the Reich Authorities, are placed in the way of the free profession of religious faith and the practice of the Catholic religion.
The Government of the Reich persists, therefore, in wishing to make it impossible for the Holy See to take care of the religious interests of the occupied countries, that is to say, to carry out the divine mandate which it has of safeguarding the rights of all Catholics. Your Excellency well realizes how this offends the August Head of the Church, how deep is the pain that it causes Him.
I, therefore, instruct Your Excellency to inform the Government of the Reich in writing
1. that the gesture made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not a friendly one as regards the Holy See;
2. that the Holy See for its part, in view of the manner in which the above mentioned, letter was delivered and the time it was held, considers such document as having reached its destination.
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Your Excellency will be good enough to keep me informed of the eventual reply, or of the progress of the matter.
I profit, etc. * * *
Signed: L. Card. Maglione
COPY
Annex No. 2 52173
5 May 1943
To His Excellency Mr Joachim von Ribbentrop Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs Berlin
Mr. Reich Minister:
By written message of 2 March, this year, his eminence the Cardinal-Secretary of State gave me the task of delivering to you a sealed letter from him to your excellency regarding the great and continuous difficulties, which the exercise of the Catholic cult and the free confession of faith encounters in certain of the areas subject to the German Reich.
I had the honor of handing this message to the State Secretary of the Foreign Office on 15 March 1943. The State Secretary received then also the task of immediately having the document come to your excellency's attention.
To my astonishment the State Secretary of the Foreign Office returned the message to me two days later, namely on 17 March, this year, with the explanation that, considering the contents, he could not carry out the task entrusted to him. .
As was my duty, I informed the Holy See thereof. Thus the Cardinal-Secretary of State to His Holiness now gives me the task of showing your excellency that this refusal on the part of the Foreign Office was not friendly to the Holy See, and that the Holy See, considering the way in which transmissal of the message was carried out and the time during which said message was retained, presumes that the document has come to its desti-, nation.
I would also like to point out, and your excellency will likewise understand this, that such a treatment, accorded the documents
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of the Holy See, makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for it to fulfill its God-given tasks, of which the protection of religious rights of all Catholics is a part.
With the expression of my special and high regard I have the honor to be
Your excellency's very devoted (signed) Cesare ORSENIGO
Archbishop of Ptolemais Apostolic Nunzio
COPY
The Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs.
To His Excellency
the Apostolic Nunzio
Mgr. Cesare Orsenigo
Berlin
Annex No. 3 Fuschl, 25 May 1943
Mr. Nunzio:
I have received Your Excellency's letter of 5 May and express lively regret that as a result of long absence I have been unable to answer it only today.
In the message Your Excellency communicates to me for the Cardinal-Secretary of State, that the refusal to further forward the letter addressed to me, which you handed to the State Secretary of the Foreign Office on 15 March, was not friendly to the Holy See. The Cardinal-Secretary of State adds thereto "that the Holy See in consideration of the way in which the transmissal of the message was effected, and of the time during which the same was retained, presumes, that, the document has come to its destination."
This message from Rome has—I would not like to conceal this from you, Mr. Nunzio—aroused in me a certain astonishment. I would like to doubt, at closer inspection, whether the CardinalSecretary of State, for his part, at the imparting of this task regarding the incident, which occurred in connection with the personal message of His Eminence to me, was filled with the friendly spirit, which is fitting to his high position and which he in exercise of said position should moreover display. In fact may I tell you, that the Cardinal Secretary of State complains unjustly
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about the handling of this document of the Holy See, and that the conclusions connected therewith regarding my person are likewise unfounded. According to the report demanded by me from the State-Secretary von Weizaecker the affair is explained quite naturally:
After Your Excellency handed to the State Secretary the personal message of the Cardinal-Secretary of State at the time and thereupon observed that Mr. von Weizaecker, as is usual opened the letter, and as it was written in Italian, turned it over to the linguistic service for translation. When the State-Secretary then later became cognizant of the contents and determined that said message concerned matters which referred to the territory of the Warthegau and the General Gouvernement, he did not believe himself in a position to forward the letter to me. He then moreover called Your Excellency to him again and reminded you of the disclosure'made to you in the past year, according to which the Reich Government in consideration of the attitude of the curia toward the territorial changes occurring due to German military operations, could not engage in the discussion of questions which referred to other territories than the old Reich. As a result of this it would be best, if, in this case, the letter would be regarded as non-existent by all concerned and in this sense, he, the StateSecretary, would have to ask you, Nunzio, to take back the letter which request Your Excellency did not delay to follow. So much for the report of the State-Secretary of the Foreign Office.
Insofar as State-Secretary von Weizaecker has requested Your Excellency to take back the letter, he doubtless acted in the interest of all concerned and thereby in accordance with the instructions, which were imparted to him as my assistant, for the handling of these matters with the curia. I can therefore only subsequently approve his mode of action, and once more confirm the above-mentioned basic standpoint which the Reich Government takes in this matter.
As to what concerns the formal aspect of the incident I cannot but express to Your Excellency a slight surprise, that his Eminence the Cardinal-Secretary of State, in full knowledge of our above-mentioned standpoint, considered it correct to entrust you, Nunzio, with a mission about , whose essence and hidden content you were not oriented and the execution of which was only with difficulty to be reconciled with diplomatic usages, i.e., with a mission, which you in full cognizance of all circumstances would hardly have been able to or wanted to carry out.
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I regret indeed, that you, Nunzio, by carrying out this sealed task have been put into a somewhat uncomfortable position, which probably only could have been alleviated had Your Excellency perhaps had, as a result of a propitious suggestion, an idea of the content of the message in question.
, Your Excellency's very devoted
Signed: von Ribbentrop
Copy
20 July 1943 ANNEX NO. 4
SECRETARIAT OF STATE -OF HIS HOLINESS -No. 4618/43
To His Most Reverend Excellency Monsignor Cesare Orsenigo Apostolic Nuncio Berlin
Very Reverend Excellency,
* * * * * * *
Your Excellency is right in saying that the reply of the Minister confirms what you had written to Herr von Ribbentrop himself, namely, that my communication was to be considered as having reached its destination ; the letter admits, in fact, that the envelope was opened, that the document was translated, was read by the Secretary of State, representative of the Foreign Minister, and was the subject of special instructions.
This is sufficient to establish for the moment: in view of the seriousness of the facts it is enough to make clear—and now we have the proof—that the attention of the Government of the Reich has been called to them in an official manner by the Holy See.
I profit * * *
Signed: L. Card. Maglione
Certificate, and letters between Catholic and German officials on the treatment of Catholics in the occupied territories, and German-Vatican relations
Authors
Domenico Tardini (secretary of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, Vatican (1945))
Domenico Tardini
Catholic cardinal
- Born: 1888-02-29 (Rome)
- Died: 1961-07-30 (Rome)
- Country of citizenship: Italy (period: 1946-06-18 through 1961-07-30); Kingdom of Italy (period: 1888-02-29 through 1946-06-18)
- Occupation: Catholic deacon (since: 1912-03-23); Catholic priest (since: 1912-09-20); diplomat; theologian
- Member of: Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- Position held: Cardinal Secretary of State (period: 1958-11-17 through 1961-07-30); Catholic bishop (since: 1958-12-27); cardinal (since: 1958-12-15); titular archbishop (diocese: Laodicea in Syria (Roman Catholic titular see); since: 1958-12-14)
- Educated at: Pontifical Roman Seminary; Pontifical Urbaniana University
- VIAF ID: https://viaf.org/viaf/105921
Luigi Maglione (Cardinal, Secretary of State, Vatican)
Luigi Maglione
Catholic cardinal
- Born: 1877-03-03 1877-03-02 (Casoria)
- Died: 1944-08-22 (Casoria)
- Country of citizenship: Kingdom of Italy
- Occupation: Catholic priest (since: 1901-07-25)
- Member of: Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- Participant in: 1939 papal conclave
- Position held: Apostolic Nuncio to France (of: France; organization directed by the office or position: Apostolic Nunciature to France; period: 1926-05-24 through 1935-12-16); Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland (of: Switzerland; since: 1920-09-01); Cardinal Secretary of State (period: 1939-03-10 through 1944-08-22); Catholic archbishop (since: 1920-09-26)
- Educated at: Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy; Pontifical Gregorian University
Cesare Orsenigo (Rev., Papal Nuncio in Germany (1942))
Cesare Orsenigo
Roman Catholic archbishop (1873-1946)
- Born: 1873-12-13 (Italy)
- Died: 1946-04-01 (Eichstätt)
- Country of citizenship: Kingdom of Italy
- Occupation: Catholic priest (since: 1896-07-05); diplomat; non-fiction writer; theologian
- Position held: Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary (of: Hungary; since: 1925-06-02); Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands (of: Netherlands; since: 1922-06-24); Catholic archbishop (since: 1922-06-23); Catholic bishop (since: 1922-06-25)
- VIAF ID: https://viaf.org/viaf/804504
- ISNI: https://isni.org/isni/0000000108620755
- WorldCat Identities ID: https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nr98031435
Joachim Ribbentrop, von (Minister for Foreign Affairs (1938-45))
Joachim von Ribbentrop
German Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany (1893–1946)
- Born: 1893-04-30 (Wesel)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel; Travellers Club
- Participant in: International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Military rank: Oberleutnant
Date: 13 November 1945
Defendant: Joachim Ribbentrop, von
Total Pages: 6
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-3269
Citation: IMT (page 6613)
HLSL Item No.: 450472
Notes:Tardini certified the letters on 13 November 1945: Maglione to Orsenigo, 17 April 1943; Orsenigo to Ribbentrop, 5 May 1943; Ribbentrop to Orsenigo, 25 May 1943; Maglione to Orsenigo, 20 July 1943.
Trial Issues
Conspiracy (and Common plan, in IMT) (IMT, NMT 1, 3, 4) IMT count 1: common plan or conspiracy (IMT) Nazi regime (rise, consolidation, economic control, and militarization) (I… Persecution of political, religious, and ethnic ("racial") groups (IMT, NM…
Document Summary
PS-3269: Statement of Demonico Tardini, Secretary of Extraordinary [Illegible] Affairs re Exchange of Communications Between Holy See and Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs through Apostolic Nuncie in Berlin, with four annexes
PS-3269: File of correspondence from the Vatican.
Ribbentrop states that he affirms decision as being in accordance with Ribbentrop's general instructions for handling such matters and further remarks that the Vatican is well aware of the German Government's decision on this issue.