“How many divisions does the pope have?” This was Stalin’s sarcastic response to Churchill’s request not to let internal developments in Poland upset relations with the pope.
While Stalin’s dismissive statement suggested that the Catholic Church was an insignificant power in international affairs, he could not have been farther from the truth.
The Holy See has played an important but understudied role in intelligence and diplomacy through its diplomatic service, which is one of the oldest in the world. The extensive presence of the Holy See’s diplomats combined with their neutrality provides them access to unique information in the far corners of the globe.
Formerly top-secret KGB (Soviet security service) documents declassified after the end of the Cold War reveal the Kremlin’s obsession with containing the papacy’s influence. The Soviet security services devoted substantial resources to penetrating and undermining the Catholic Church for the entirety of the Co...