Introduction
Coincident with the inauguration of Vatican Council II
on October 11， 1962， a Letter from Vatican City appeared in
the New Yorker. It occasioned concern in Rome and won-
derment among Catholics and others in on the literary
scene. The name of the writer， Xavier Rynne， was unknown.
It was presumed to be a pseudonym and eventually gave rise
to a to-do among ecelesial sleuths and literary pundits.
Their frustrations were captured in John Cogley s desperate
verse~
1 know their habits and their next of kin
But who the hell is Xavier Rynne~
The stir in the Church was occasioned by Rynne s por-
trayal of the skirmishing and intrigue that accompanied the
preparations for Pope John XXIII s Ecumenical Council，
particularly in the control exercised by the papal curia --t he
bureaucratic offices of the Vatican rule -- over the agenda
for this great event.2
American and British ecclesiastics in particular were
stunned by the revelations of Roman prelatial chicanery
whereby pressure was being put on the portly Pontiff to
cancel， or at least postpone the Council; and the fact that
progressive bishops and theologians from around the world
Icf. \"Literary Intelligence，\" America， Oct. 19， 1963.
2Cf. Xavier Rynne， The First Session (New York， 1963); G. Licheri， Dove vai
Chiesa? (Rome， Boda， 1985) pp. 16-20.
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