Pope Pius X and President Coolidge
In 1923 a young American priest named Fulton J. Sheen is attending the University of Louvain where he earns a doctorate in philosophy (it OTL he bacame the first American to earn the Cardinal Mercier Award for best philosophical treatise). He comes to the attention of Pope Leo and is invited to Rome. There comes under the influence of Msgnr Sigounrey Fay and part of the Pope's inner cicle. Pope Leo is disappointed with the current crop of American prelates but is impressed with Sheen as well as Fay.
Ireland has diverged somewhat in TTL on account of Pope Innocent (Gibbons) and President Hughes meddling in Ireland. And Fr. Far as well. Under his influence Shane Leslie gives up the Redmondite ghost and becomes part of Michael Collins' inner circle. On account of this and other butterflies Collins is not killed and the Free State prevails in the Irish Civil War.
In early 1926 Pope Leo XIV dies. In the ensuing conclave the Antimodernist hardliners faction is only 10 cardinals. The long feared schism has occurred but the Society of One Truth looks like it will not be very big, esp. outside France. Its leader, Archbishop Delacroix makes some very extreme conspiracy theory statements about Freemasons running the Vatican allowing the "smoke of Satan" to enter the Church.
So the Italian cardinals are less divided this time around and they still very much want to reclaim the Papacy. They therefore rally around the 67 year old Secretary of State, Pietro Cardinal Maffi (an obscure historical in OTL he was head of the Vatican observatory for a while. He was criticized by OTL Pius X for a few things incl. allowing too much open discussion in a newspaper he ran).. In TTL he is the only surviving member of Pope Innocent's nortorious Gang of Four. The curialists support Maffi because he has made it clear he firmly supports the policy of "another council eventually but not right now". This a brief conclave. In a surprise he picks the name of Pius as a small bone thrown to the Antimodernists who view Pius IX with his Syllabus of Errors as the last good pope. As another cone Pope Pius picks Pietro Cardinal Gaspari, considered part of the InBetweeners as his own secretary of state.
The biggest change between Pope Pius and Pope Leo XIV (Mercier) is that he is less confrontational towards Mussolini. They embark on a policy of "constructive engagement". This will lead to the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929.
In TTL F. Scott Fitzgerald is having trouble with Zelda, but for very different reasons than OTL. While he is less friendly with Hemingway, Zelda has grown tired --very tired--of Scott's Catholicism and the fact he gave up drinking in 1922 at the recommendation of Fr. Fay. In ealy 1926 she jumps of a 100' cliff and perishes. This causes Fitzgerld to temporarily lose his faith when he was almost done with his adoring biography of Gibbons, The Last Innocent. With the help of Fr. Fay he returns to his faith even stronger and enters a seminary in the spring of 1927.
Pope Pius X is fond of Fr. Fay and in a Feb 1927 consistory makes him a cardinal priest. Cardinal Fay dominates the Liturgical Reform Commission which now includes yound Fr. Sheen. The commission has for a long time been sharply divided. Fay is strongly in favor of vernacularization but rather cool towards other suggested changes like bringing back the Prayer of the Faithful. If he could Cardinal Fay would vernacularize the entire Mass but he realizes that it is too soon to go that far. In June of 1927 he armtwists the Commission into recommending that the beginning of the Mass be vernacularized up to the Nicene Creed with the congregation responding like the acolytes. While Pope Pius is somewhat more enthusiastic about liturgical reform than Pope Leo, he initially wonders if the Commission and Fay have gone too far.
Unlike Innocent and Leo, Pius has given up on telling Fay to watch is weight which now increases each month. In Dec 1927 Sigourney Cardinal Fay dies of multiple causes, inc;. complication of diabetes. As a sort of memorial to Cardinal Fay the Missal of 1928 includes his recommended changes. In that year the communion fast is also reduced.
Meanwhile in the United States a Canadian priest moves to Detroit and begins giving radio broadcasts which touch on social issues as much as spiritual ones. His name is Charles Coughlin.
Also in America. President Leonard Wood had run on a preparedness platform. He intends to build up American military strength but how to pay for it? Being a Republican he would not dream of running up a deficit so he decides substantial tariff increases are need. In May 1926 Congress approves increased tariffs, which are increased still more in March 1927. This spawns a wave of global retaliation and the stifling of trade starts to reduce some copororate profits in late 1927.
After President Wood dies in Jul 1927 (a month earlier than OTL) Coolidge is sworn in. He does not immediately change any of Wood's policies though he does want to prune the military expeditures a bit.
In April 1928 a spate of disappointing corporate earnings reports begins a series of corrections to the stock market which in May become a full fledged crash.
