9 October 1958(1958-10-09) (aged 82) Castel Gandolfo, Lazio, Italy
Previous post(s)
Pro-Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1912–1914)
Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1914–1917)
Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria (1917–1925)
Titular Archbishop of Sardes (1917–1929)
Apostolic Nuncio to Germany (1920–1930)
Apostolic Nuncio to Prussia (1926–1929)
Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio (1929–1939)
Cardinal Secretary of State (1930–1939)
Prefect of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1930–1939)
Archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica (1930–1939)
Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber (1935–1939)
Education
Almo Collegio Capranica
Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare
State University, La Sapienza
Motto
Opus Justitiae Pax
("The work of justice [shall be] peace" [Is. 32: 17])
Signature
Coat of arms
Sainthood
Venerated in
Catholic Church
Title as Saint
Venerable
Pope Pius XII's voice
Message of Pope Pius XII at the opening of the Holy Year Recorded 1949
Other popes named Pius
Ordination history of Pope Pius XII
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained by
Francesco di Paola Cassetta
Date
2 April 1899
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecrator
Pope Benedict XV
Co-consecrators
Agostino Zampini Giovanni Battista Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano
Date
13 May 1917
Place
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
Cardinalate
Elevated by
Pope Pius XI
Date
16 December 1929
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Pope Pius XII as principal consecrator
Michel-Joseph Bourguignon d'Herbigny
29 March 1926
Giuseppe Pizzardo
27 April 1930
Luigi Centoz
14 February 1932
Francis Joseph Spellman
8 September 1932
Albert Levame
4 February 1934
Saverio Ritter
11 August 1935
Maurilio Silvani
13 September 1936
Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant
25 July 1937
Francesco Benedetto Cialeo
29 October 1939
Carlo Confalonieri
4 May 1941
Pope Pius XII (born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, Italian pronunciation:[euˈdʒɛːnjomaˈriːadʒuˈzɛppedʒoˈvannipaˈtʃɛlli]; 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his election to the papacy, he served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with various European and Latin American nations, including the Reichskonkordat treaty with the German Reich.[1]
While the Vatican was officially neutral during World War II, the Reichskonkordat and his leadership of the Catholic Church during the war remain the subject of controversy—including allegations of public silence and inaction concerning the fate of the Jews.[2] Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, through directing the church to provide discreet aid to Jews and others, saved hundreds of thousands of lives.[3][4] Pius maintained links to the German resistance, and shared intelligence with the Allies. His strongest public condemnation of genocide was considered inadequate by the Allied Powers, while the Nazis viewed him as an Allied sympathizer who had dishonoured his policy of Vatican neutrality.[5]
During his papacy, the Catholic Church issued the Decree against Communism, declaring that Catholics who profess communist doctrine are to be excommunicated as apostates from the Christian faith. The church experienced severe persecution and mass deportations of Catholic clergy in the Eastern Bloc. He explicitly invoked ex cathedra papal infallibility with the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in his Apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus.[6] His forty-one encyclicals include Mystici Corporis Christi, on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ; Mediator Dei on liturgy reform; and Humani generis, in which he instructed theologians to adhere to episcopal teaching and allowed that the human body might have evolved from earlier forms. He eliminated the Italian majority in the College of Cardinals in 1946.
After he died in 1958, Pope Pius XII was succeeded by John XXIII. In the process toward sainthood, his cause for canonization was opened on 18 November 1965 by Paul VI during the final session of the Second Vatican Council. He was made a Servant of God by John Paul II in 1990 and Benedict XVI declared Pius XII Venerable on 19 December 2009.[7]
^Joseph Bottum; David G. Dalin (2004). The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII. Lexington Books. pp. 224–27. ISBN 9780739158883.
^Gerard Noel, The Hound of Hitler, p. 3 Encyclopædia Britannica Online – Reflections on the Holocaust: Further Reading; web 26 April 2013
^Coppa, Frank J. (29 June 2006). "Pius XII: Assessment". Encyclopædia Britannica. he established the Vatican Information Service to provide aid to, and information about, thousands of war refugees and instructed the church to provide discreet aid to Jews, which quietly saved thousands of lives
^"L'oro di Pio XII". archive.is. 13 April 2013. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
^"Roman Catholicism: the period of the world wars". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 February 2016.
^Encyclopedia of Catholicism by Frank K. Flinn, J. Gordon Melton; ISBN 0-8160-5455-X, p. 267
^Pitel, Laura (19 December 2009). "Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII move closer to sainthood". The Times. London. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
PopePiusXII (born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, Italian pronunciation: [euˈdʒɛːnjo maˈriːa dʒuˈzɛppe dʒoˈvanni paˈtʃɛlli]; 2 March 1876 –...
PiusXII was positive, including Halecki and Murray's PiusXII: Eugenio Pacelli, Pope of Peace (1954) and Nazareno Padellaro's Portrait of PiusXII (first...
beatification decree, PiusXII referred to Pius X as "Pope of the Eucharist", in honor of Pius X's expansion of the rite to children. The cause for Pius X's canonization...
now venerable PopePiusXII. Most importantly, this authorized prayer released by the Vatican less than two months after PopePiusXII's death explicitly...
of PopePiusXII. The relations of the Vatican with Russia are one element of the topic Persecutions against the Catholic Church and PopePiusXII. Equally...
beatified by PiusXII, a majority are women, with Spanish, Italian and French backgrounds and others. List of people beatified by Pope John XXIII List...
been the ultimate result of Pius XI's condemnation, though these claims have been disputed. Pius XI's successor, PopePiusXII, repealed the papal ban on...
PopePiusXII (1939–1958) canonized numerous saints, including PopePius X and Maria Goretti. He beatified Pope Innocent XI. The first canonizations of...
The relations between PopePiusXII and Judaism have long been controversial, especially those questions that surround PopePiusXII and the Holocaust. Other...
The liturgical reforms of PopePiusXII took place mostly between 1947 and 1958. On 20 November 1947, PiusXII issued the encyclical Mediator Dei. It included...
a policy of neutrality during World War II, under the leadership of PopePiusXII. Although the city of Rome was occupied by Germany from September 1943...
Pope Leo XII (Italian: Leone XII), born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (pronunciation; 2 August 1760 – 10 February...
PopePiusXII and Poland includes Church relations from 1939 to 1958. PiusXII became Pope on the eve of the Second World War. The invasion of predominantly...
Several authors have alleged that there was a plot to kidnap PopePiusXII by the Nazis when they occupied Rome during World War II. SS General Karl Wolff...
This is a list of encyclicals of PopePiusXII. PiusXII promulgated 41 papal encyclicals, during his reign as pope for over 19 years, from his election...
PopePiusXII and the Church in China involves relations of the Holy See with China from 1939 to 1958. The Vatican recognized Chinese rites in 1939, elevated...
The theology of PopePiusXII is reflected in his forty-one encyclicals, as well as speeches and nearly 1000 messages, during his almost 20-year pontificate...
War, PopePiusXII maintained links to the German resistance to Nazism against Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. Although remaining publicly neutral, Pius advised...
The Pius War (or Pius Wars) refer to debates over the legacy of PopePiusXII and his actions during the Holocaust. The phrase was first coined in a 2004...
Nazi-era Catholics PopesPius XI (1922–1939) and PiusXII (1939–1958) led the Catholic Church during the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. Around a third...
Roman Calendar of PopePiusXII and the General Roman Calendar of 1960. Though no longer mentioned in the General Roman Calendar, Saint Pius I may now, according...
Foreign relations of PopePiusXII extended to most of Europe and a few states outside Europe. PiusXII was pope from 1939 to 1958, during World War II...
Pope Pius X (1903–1914) PopePius XI (1922–1939) PopePiusXII (1939–1958) Lucian Pulvermacher (Antipope Pius XIII; 1998–2009) Pius XV, a character in the...
Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (later PopePiusXII) was born March 2, 1876, to Filippo Pacelli and Virginia (Graziosi) Pacelli, in Rome, where...
Social teachings of PopePiusXII refers to encyclicals, apostolic constitutions and speeches by PopePiusXII on non-theological issues involving medicine...
pronouncement on Darwin's theories. In the 1950 encyclical Humani generis, PopePiusXII confirmed that there is no intrinsic conflict between Christianity and...
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