ABSTRACT
The Algerian crisis had negative repercussions on the stability of Edgar Faure's government, which in fact announced legislative elections on 20 October ahead of the scheduled date of June 1956, and was also reflected in greater tension in relations between the Nunciature in Paris and the French episcopate. The indigenisation of the episcopal hierarchies was a cause of tension between the Holy See and the French government, since the Vatican had decided to appoint local bishops without notifying France in advance, which was thus deprived of the possibility of opposing the appointment of nationalist or pro-independence prelates who were contrary to its colonial policy. The Vatican diplomat's optimism about the effectiveness of the Faure government's measures to deal with the North African crisis was to say the least very hasty with regard to the situation in Algeria.
