Pastor Column: Pope Pius XII

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article from the bulletin of May 1, 2022]

     We’ve wrapped up most of the encyclicals written by Pope Pius XI, so now we move on to Pope Pius XII. Born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli on March 2 1876, he was raised in a very devout family in Rome. The Pacellis had historic connections to the papacy with a number of ancestors who served in important positions under previous popes.

     Once he turned 18, Eugenio Pacelli entered seminary in Rome to begin training for the priesthood. He was ordained a priest April 2, 1899 (Easter Sunday that year) and soon began to serve in the Vatican Secretariat of State as a minor official. He continued his studies as well, completing a doctorate in 1904 which focused on concordats (Church-state treaties) and canon law. In his position, he served in a number of diplomatic roles across Europe and involving the nobility of the time. Eventually, he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria in 1917 by Pope Benedict XV, which also made him and Archbishop. He was ordained a bishop on May 13 of that year. By this point, World War I was underway and Archbishop Pacelli was one of the men who represented the Church in trying to restore peace and order, often trying to reason with Kaiser Wilhelm though never succeeding. Following this, he focused on the Pope Benedict XV’s humanitarian efforts. After the Armistice, Bavaria was in quite a bit of turmoil and Archbishop Pacelli was sometimes threatened by members of the Bavarian Soviet Republic. He did manage to complete a concordat with Bavaria before being named as Nuncio to Germany, where he tried to negotiate both with Germans and with Soviets in alleviating the distress of the postwar period.

     Eventually, he was named Cardinal in 1929 and appointed Secretary of State at the Vatican, where he oversaw foreign policy for the Church. He was also named the Camerlengo in 1935, an honored position that involves fiscal administration and, when the Pope dies, the Camerlengo acts as the Church’s leader until the election is finished. In these roles, he worked on a number of concordats throughout Europe. He also warned leaders in Germany about the dangers of the Socialist Party (Nazis). A number of letters and documents he wrote reveal that Cardinal Pacelli though compromise with the Nazis was impossible. He also visited the US in 1936 and met President Roosevelt, which helped reestablish diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the U.S.

     Pope Pius XI died February 10, 1939. On March 2, 1939 Cardinal Pacelli was elected Pope and took the name Pius XII. As pope, he wrote around 40 Encyclicals and initiated reforms of the liturgy, canon law, and the training of priests. He had to deal with a number of theological controversies, particularly concerning the interpretation of Scripture and the role of theologians in relation to the Magisterium. He is also the pope who invoked the power or papal infallibility to declare the Assumption of Mary as a dogma. He was also the pope during World War II, meaning he was frequently working to restore peace. He also clearly condemned racism and antisemitism in his writings, though there are many who still accuse him of not doing enough and even of passively cooperating with the destruction of the Jews. Indeed there is a book titled “Hitler’s Pope” that focuses in on this criticism. Pope Pius XII did, however, so many things in secret to rescue Jews from the Holocaust, though this took a long time to become known to scholars and historians. A more recent book titled “The Myth of Hitler’s Pope” draws on this information to refute the previous book and other criticisms.

     After the war, he honored and elevated a number of churchmen who had resisted the Nazis. He also opposed communism as best he could and warned against its dangers. In 1954, he considered abdicating due to illness, but decided against it. In 1958, he suffered a few strokes and died on March 8. The cause for his canonization began in 1965 but remains incomplete. Part of this is due to the controversy about his handling of World War II and the Holocaust.

     Next week, we’ll begin to work our way through some of his more important documents, beginning with Summi Pontifcatus, his first.