Vatikáni követség iratai, 1920-1944

The Hungarian Embassy in the Vatican was established in 1920 and represented the Hungarian state at the Holy See. It was neither a representative of the Hungarian churches, nor of the Roman Catholic Church and was therefore not a person belonging to the Church. He was sent by the Head of the Hungarian State and worked for the Foreign Ministry. The Ambassador was accredited at the Papacy, had to be reaccredited by each new Pope and had a canonical adviser as his aide. His main role was to represent the church policies of the Hungarian government, prepare the visits of Hungarian statesmen and pilgrims, and report back to Hungary on developments in the Vatican. Between 1927 and 1938, György Barcza served as Hungarian Ambassador, in 1938-1939 Heribert Thierry was the secretary and caretaking deputy, Gábor Apor acted as Ambassador between 1939 and 1945. The collection contains information on the debate between the Vatican and the Italian state concerning racial legislation, letter reports on the Church stance on the new Italian marriage law and, more generally, on the evolution of relations between the Vatican and the Italian state after the Concordat and reemergence of the Papal State in 1929.