Il Centro internazionale per la protezione degli interessi cattolici in Palestina

During 1932, Luigi Barlassina, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, worried by the weakness of Catholicism in the Holy Land, proposed creating an International Center to defend Catholic rights in the region. In his proposal the Center would be established in a neutral, Catholic country, and it would be able not only to influence international public opinion but also to oppose the dangerous innovations that were being introduced by the mandatory government. Such an idea was received in various different ways by Vatican diplomats, among which there were some who were very skeptical about the possibility of setting up this new institution. These dubious attitudes were, in any case, overridden by the open support that Pius XI showed to Barlassina’s project from the first moment. After such approval, Pizzardo, secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, contacted Micara, apostolic Nuncio to Bruxelles, and instructed him regarding the construction of the new Center. Micara started working immediately and in a few months he was able to create a solid structure, involving in its constitution many representatives of the Belgian Catholic establishment. Despite this good start, the Center had very limited activity, due to Barlassina’s authoritarian character and his wish to control all the activities of the Center, limiting the initiatives of the Belgian supporters. The International Center for the defense of Catholic rights in Palestine obtained few concrete results: despite this the constitution of the new institution and the way in which it happened are useful in understanding the attitude of the Holy See towards Zionism and the Palestinian issue during the first half of the Thirties.