Msgr. Schioppa, in charge of Munich Nunciature in absence of Pacelli, writes Cardinal Gasparri about refuting reports that the Vatican favors the secession of Bavaria from Germany - Mar. 5, 1920
Source: Timeline
Mar. 5, 1920 Msgr. Schioppa, in charge of Munich Nunciature in absence of Pacelli, writes Cardinal Gasparri about refuting reports that the Vatican favors the secession of Bavaria from Germany.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 331. - English translation
March 5, 1920 Schioppa to Gasparri re the Holy See and Bavarian secession:
It is only now that this Nunciature has received the esteemed Dispatch from Your Most Reverend Eminence No. B-2435 dated Feb. 14 of this year, in which Your Eminence orders a denial of an assertion attributed to Deputy Dr. Heim, according to which the Holy See had shown its preference for the secession of Bavaria from the German Reich.
Since Your Eminence, in the same aforesaid Dispatch, orders likewise that the profound impression that the declaration made upon the lower clergy of Bavaria be corrected in the best way possible, and since - as is known to me - the mentioned statement has also provoked a similar impression in political circles, I have deemed it opportune to have published in the Bayerischer Kurier, using the same language from the cited Dispatch, without alluding moreover to Dr. Heim’s assertion, the following notice in the form of a telegram addressed to a newspaper in Rome: “It has been recently denied that the Holy See has indicated its preference for the secession of Bavaria from the German Reich. The Vatican, which, as a constant principle, stays remote from all purely political questions, also in this case has not made any statement to the effect indicated.”
The newspaper preceded the notice with these words: “We have received from a competent source the following news,” which was done without my authorization.
While I now have the honor to append here the German text of the Note in question, which has also been republished in other newspapers, I humbly bow ... etc.
Lorenzo Schioppa, Auditor
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 331.