If the men who until months earlier had been loyal servants of the Fascist government now found themselves in a compromising position, the same was, at least in theory, true of the many high prelates who had taken such a public role in supporting the Fascist regime and the Axis war. For the pope, allowing action to be taken against any of them would mean admitting the role the church had played in supporting Fascism and the war, both facts of recent history that Vatican officials and leaders of church organizations throughout Italy would now strenuously deny.
