“The Third Rome”

This time, on his way to Rome, Töhötöm Nagy was delayed for longer in Austria. Although he reached Vienna in one day, February 18, 1946, owing to the risk of being found out, he was supposed to continue his journey by plane only on March 1, but finally traveled as a car passenger: Capt. Rudolf von Ripper, a noted Salzburg artist before the war, and subsequently an OSS/SSU intelligence officer, helped Nagy reach Rome on March 3. ³ This was to be Nagy’s longest period in Rome, with his goal being to “[n]egotiate with the Holy See the possibilities and broad strokes of a modus vivendi with the Russians. These negotiations stretched on due to the sensitive nature of the matter.” ⁴ His long stay proved beneficial: when he departed for Hungary some two months later, on May 8, he carried an ID indicating that he was a representative of the Vatican Secretariat of State, and was authorized by the Holy See to conduct negotiations on their behalf with his Soviet partners. ⁵ Fr Leiber, the Pope’s personal secretary, wrote in Nagy’s letter of authorization of March 18: “Father Nagy is authorized to tell his principals that the Holy See is willing to communicate with the Moscow government, if it so wishes, as the Holy See was ready to do during wartime.” ⁶