Three Popes and the Jews as well as "replete with egregious mistakes and distortions". Lapide's work makes many claims to which he himself claims to have been the witness, but also makes other claims, generally without citing sources. One of Lapide's main goals as Consul to Milan was Vatican recognition of the State of Israel, and Zuccotti assesses that "memories of past commissions and omissions were readily sacrificed to the goal of constructing a better future". John Cornwell states that "Three Popes" is a "formidable and scholarly riposte to those who would paint Pius XII and the Holy See as villains but it carried the
Prisoner in the Vatican Pope Pius IX in 1849 and 1860, and it was in sharp contrast to the letter that Garibaldi had written to the pope from Montevideo in 1847, before those events. The stand-off was ended on 11 February 1929, when the Lateran Pacts created a new microstate, that of Vatican City, and opened the way for diplomatic relations between Italy and the Holy See. The Holy See in turn recognized the Kingdom of Italy, with Rome as its capital, thus ending the situation whereby the popes had felt constrained to remain within the Vatican. Subsequently, the popes resumed visiting their cathedral,