and after the Peace Treaties were signed the Vatican expressed itself about them with such reservations that some of the Powers thought that the Papal See intended to discredit them.
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All the above statements are confirmed by the actual policy of the Vatican during the war. Scarcely had the war broken out than Pope Pius X defined the first principle of Papal policy thus: As it had not been possible to prevent the war, everything must now be done to accelerate the restoration of peace. Although this seemed to be a purely impartial point of view, the circumstances caused it to be a harmful principle to the Allies only. The principle thus defined by Pius X was somewhat elaborated by Benedict XV, so that in its final form it comprised the following:
1. Impartiality to both sides.
2. The employment of all resources for alleviating the miseries of war, assisting prisoners, emigrants, inhabitants of occupied areas, women, children, etc.
3. Exertion of all efforts to conclude the war and prepare peace negotiations.
As I have pointed out, the first item on this programme was incompatible with the third one, but the most serious objection to the whole scheme was that the Pope had interchanged the word “impartiality” for “neutrality.” A neutral is precluded from adopting an attitude to any action of the belligerents, however outrageous it might be. Impartiality, on the other hand, implies the passing of a moral judgment. In actual fact, Benedict XV assumed an attitude of moral neutrality towards the Catholic world, an attitude which was interpreted as being more or less “benevolent” neutrality towards the Central Powers.
At the same time, the philanthropic activity of the Papal See was carried on in a consistent and effective manner throughout the war, and it met with sincere recognition on all sides.
It was on September 8, 1915, that Benedict XV issued his first manifesto in favour of accelerating the peace negotiations, and he repeated this during the Christmas of the same year. In February 1916 he ordered public prayer for peace at an early date. The Vatican took the view that the less the number of belligerents, the sooner peace would be concluded, and acting on this principle it did everything in its power to prevent Italy
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