Catholic University of America Press A Bridge Across the Ocean: The United States and the Holy See Between the Two World Wars

A Bridge Across the Ocean focuses on the relations between the United States and the Holy See from the First World War to the eve of the Second, through the combination of American, Italian, and Vatican sources.More than an overall picture of the American and Vatican foreign policy during the first half of the twentieth century, the book analyses the U.S. Vatican rapprochement in a multifaceted way, considering both the international and the internal sphere. A Bridge Across the Ocean discusses the spread of anti-Catholicism in the United States during the first two decades of the twentieth century, and its repercussions on the American administrations’ behaviour during and after the Versailles Conference, together with the changes that occurred in the Holy See’s attitude toward the American church and the White House after the election of Pope Pius XI. Luca Castagna explores the convergence of the New Deal legislation with the church’s social thought, and demonstrates how the partial U.S. Vatican rapprochement in 1939 resulted from Roosevelt and Pacelli’s common aim to cooperate, as two of the most important and global moral powers in the struggle against Nazi-fascism. A Bridge Across the Ocean deepens our understanding of American and church history during the first half of the twentieth Century, from the church-state relations to the identification of diplomatic strategies and priorities. Review "Castagna's excellently researched examination of the diplomatic archives of both the Vatican and the United States for this short period of twenty years provides a useful extension of comparative diplomatic history A useful and reliable addition to our knowledge of papal diplomacy in the inter-war period."--Contemporary Church History Quarterly "Luca Castagna's 'A Bridge Across the Ocean' adds much-needed depth and argumentation in light of the latest archival materials open for research at the Archivio Segreto Vaticano"--Charles R. Gallagher, SJ - Boston College, Journal of Jesuit Studies "Castagna has investigated a long-neglected period of relations between the United States and the Holy See. He has done this through prodigious mining of archives on both sides of the Atlantic, producing an analysis that will be an indispensable reference for any student of this topic."--Robert J. Wister - Seton Hall University, Journal of Church and State "Castagna unearths a wide range of previously undisclosed letters from the Secret Vatican Archive and other Italian and American archival collections that enrich historical understanding of this diplomatic history Fascinating anecdotes are sprinkled throughout the short book, and Castagna helps make sense of the awkward relationship between Washington and the Vatican."--Craig R. Prentiss - Rockhurst University, The Journal of American History "This volume is a significant and, to some extent, original contribution to the study of Vatican diplomacy and to the history of the political and diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See from World War I to the opening days of World War II."--Andrea Di Stephano, University of New Hampshire (Italy), Theological Studies About the Author Luca Castagna is at the University of Salerno.