circles. He and the Rumanian priest, Vladimir Ghika, introduced me to the Belgian priest, Monsignor Deploige, Professor of Christian sociology at Liége, who was working at the Vatican on behalf of Belgium. They also brought me into touch with Cardinal Bourne, who was then spending some time in Rome. With the help of these new acquaintances I supplied the Vatican with a detailed account of our affairs. All four—Loiseau, Ghika, Monsignor Deploige, and Cardinal Bourne—assured me that they would draw the attention of the appropriate persons at the Vatican to our conversations, and would hand over to the right quarters my notes on our aims and opinions which I had placed at their disposal. Loiseau himself, with whom I continued to maintain friendly relations from that time onwards, did so in a thoroughly conscientious manner and with the best of intentions, acting in this capacity as intermediary until the end of the war. I never ascertained definitely what the others did, but I was informed that they had made a report to the Vatican.
My statement for the Vatican presented the fundamentals of the Czech problem in terms of moderation. I particularly pointed out the unfortunate influence which the Austro-Hungarian State exerted on the Church, and the manner in which it was misused to our detriment. I showed how the Catholic Church there had been the instrument used by those in authority against the oppressed, and at the same time I indicated that we should be quite satisfied if the Vatican merely refrained from acting against our interests. If it were to oppose us in an active manner, and we were then to emerge victorious, this would prove detrimental to Catholicism amongst our people, all the more so since it was our intention to grant full liberty and rights to all religions and churches in our State and accordingly also to Catholicism, which had a strong position amongst us.
I have never discovered whether the Vatican took this into account during the war. At any rate, wherever it could, it rendered all possible assistance to Austria-Hungary as being the most Catholic of all the belligerent Powers. Loiseau used to tell me that the dominant forces in the Vatican had misgivings about our Hussitism, and that they were displeased because our troops in the Russian brigade had gone over to the orthodox Russian Church. He advised us to put a stop to this, as by so doing we should demonstrate our good will, and
