Venerable Pius XII

Venerable Pius XII

1876–1958 · Contemporary

Feast day: October 9

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Biography

Pope Pius XII (Italian: Pio XII; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. The papacy of Pius XII was long, even by modern standards; it lasted 19 years, and spanned a consequential fifth of the 20th century. Pius was a diplomat pope during the destruction wrought by the Second World War, the recovery and rebuilding which followed, the beginning of the Cold War, and the early building of a new international geopolitical order, which aimed to protect human rights and maintain global peace through the establishment of international rules and institutions (such as the United Nations). Born, raised, educated, ordained, and resident for most of his life in Rome, his work in the Roman Curia—as a priest, then bishop, then cardinal—was extensive. He served as secretary of the Vatican's diplomatic Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, and Cardinal Secretary of State for the Holy See, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with various European and Latin American nations, including the Reichskonkordat treaty with Nazi Germany. While the Vatican was officially neutral during the Second World War, the Reichskonkordat and Pius' 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. Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, by directing the church to provide discreet aid to Jews and others, saved thousands of lives. Pius maintained links to the German resistance, and shared intelligence with the Allies. His strong 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.

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Sources: Wikipedia (308). Wikipedia content used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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