Der Priesterpolitiker Ignaz Seipel und der Heilige Stuhl

Jürgen Steinmair
2012 unpublished
The Secret Archives of the Vatican have recently made accessible the records for the pe-riod of the pontificate of Pius XI. (1922-1939). The archives now provide a pool of so far unexplored resources to scholars of the historical sciences. The emergence of these new sources presented an occasion to undertake research on the relations between Austrian chancellor and catholic priest Ignaz Seipel and the Roman Church headquarters. Despite obvious close connections between the two, this aspect has
more » ... ot been studied so far. Earlier research which was predominantly based on national sources had ignored this aspect to a large part and had only speculated on how the Christian Social Chancellor had arranged his political action with church authorities. The investigation into the reports of the Vien-nese Nunciature which was undertaken for this dissertation reveals that Seipel's liaison with Rome was much more intensive than it was documented in Austrian sources. The Roman documents portray the prelate as a person who was submissively following au-thorities and who was strongly oriented towards the pope, often seeking contact with the Roman authorities on his own initiative. The communication between Ignaz Seipel and the Roman Curia was based almost exclusively on the papal diplomatic mission in Vienna. There Seipel had met nuncio Enrico Sibilia, a loyal like-minded person, to whom the chancellor confided even private matters. Conversely, the church hierarchy recognized the practical value of an able priest in this high position and used their influence for their own ends. The variety of interferences by the church ranged from mundane bureaucratic inquiries to influencing personnel decisions. Generally, the interferences of the Vatican were cautious and had a moderate extent. Substantial directives with high political relev-ance have not been issued and were also not necessary. The political understanding of Ignaz Seipel was strongly shaped by his religious beliefs. Thus, it coincided largely with the ideas of the Curia. Le [...]
doi:10.25365/thesis.26371 fatcat:xk2iapdesffjbejxmrnkm6ksxe