petent information, he is only an average compiler of German authors. What is remarkable is the fact I have wanted to point out several times, that Austria provided Masaryk with a higher salary than his colleagues. The Austrian government hoped that, with his socialistic ideas and positivist philosophy, he would dampen their nationalist desires. That also explains why Prague Archbishops were unsuccessful in attempting to draw him away from young students before he could poison their young souls. . . . The President has in reality never abandoned his hatred of the Catholic Church and has never ceased to show kindness towards everything anti-Roman... Masaryk has never acted kindly towards the Holy See, although the Holy Father kept reassuring him of his interest. He proved this when he planned to travel to Rome absolutely incognito to avoid visiting the Vatican.339
Marmaggi, the new Apostolic Nuncio, provided information about President Masaryk in a far more conciliatory spirit than his predecessor, Micara. When he spoke with him in March 1924, he had the impression that the President’s attitude towards the Catholic Church was still the same, although “he is not so warlike as he used to be recently, and he is not anymore a rebel in opposition to Rome. In my opinion, he acts correctly and in a friendly way.“340 However, the President did not abandon his anti-Catholic attitude—his critical reproaches against the Catholic block, which Masaryk openly presented during the meeting with Catholic journalists in Topoľčianky in October 1926, were aimed mainly at the superficial Catholic press, inactive bishops (F. Kordač), and the personages of the Catholic block (J. Šrámek, A. Hlinka, F. Juriga, A. Arata).341 The Vatican was informed about Masaryk’s third journey to Italy in 1924, when the President headed for Sicily, by Nuncio Marmaggi and the Roman La Tribuna, to which Masaryk had granted an interview on the way to his vacation.342 The Nuncio said that Masaryk would not stop in Rome, like the previous time, to avoid meeting with the Pope. However, the President, or rather the President’s Office, had considered visiting the Holy Father and was aware of the consequences of not 339 ASV, Archivio Nunziatura Cecoslovacchia, busta 5, fascicolo 19, fols. 59–60, concluding report. 340 AA. EE. SS., Cecoslovacchia, IV periodo, fascicolo 52, fol. 23, Marmaggi to Gasparri June 16, 1924. 341 Ibid., fascicolo 72, fols. 23–25. 342 AMFA, PR Vatican, 1924, Pallier June 18, 1924; Masaryk, Cesta demokracie, 2:389–391; Národní listy, May 3, 1924.
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