But, on both sides, the standpoints of political Catholic leaders were national rather than religious. The German Catholics sent a memorandum to Rome early in September 1914; the French Catholics answered it early in 1915, and the Germans issued a rejoinder. Outwardly the Vatican kept up a certain degree of impartiality, chiefly by evading positive issues and contenting itself with general observations upon its divine mission. It is necessary to distinguish between the official policy of the Vatican and the personal opinions of this or that Pope or of the individual Cardinals and Prelates who work in its various departments. Throughout the whole war I watched the Vatican very keenly. Presently we established relations with it; and, in conducting them, I never forgot that “qui mange du Pape, en meurt.”
In Rome I thought at times of returning for a while to Prague in order to put heart into our people and again to discuss with them our whole plan in the light of what I had learned in Italy. I wished also to store my most valuable books in a safe place, for I did not doubt that the police would ransack my home if I stayed abroad. To this end I drafted a letter assuring the police that they would find nothing political among my papers. At all events I made while in Rome provisional arrangements for an escape from Trieste into Italy. But I was not destined to go back. On January 11, 1915, I left Rome for Geneva after having visited my beloved Pantheon for a last time.
