The International Centre for the Protection of Catholic Interests in Palestine: Cultural Diplomacy and Outreach in the British Mandate Period

The establishment of the International Centre for the Protection of Catholic Interests in Palestine was one of those events in the history of institutions that begin with great ambitions and under the brightest auspices, but soon show their limitations, eventually erasing their traces and disappearing from memory. Nevertheless, its foundation provides a valuable source of informa- tion on the development of the views of local Catholic hierarchies of the con- dition of Christians in Palestine and the role of ecclesiastical and missionary institutions. In particular, it shows that the Latin Patriarchate did not sim- ply operate within the strict limits of religious and missionary activities, but also concentrated on the field of cultural outreach, locally and internationally. With all the limits of the case, the International Centre can be considered a missing tile in the mosaic of the numerous activities undertaken by the Latin Patriarchate during the Mandate to position and develop the local Catholic community.