Sunday 10 March 2013

Papal Retrospective : Pius XII : 1


Pope Pius XII 1939 - 1958.
On 2nd March, 1939, EUGENIO MARIA GIUSEPPE GIOVANNI PACELLI, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, was elected Pope by the College of Cardinals and took the name Pius XII. Unlike his two immediate predecessors, Benedict XV and Pius XI, the election of Eugenio Pacelli was completely expected, since he had been extremely prominent in Rome and Internationally.

Eugenio Pacelli was born of noble parents in Rome on 2nd March 1876. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1899, where he continued studies whilst working in the Secretariat of State. He continued in this work, frequently travelling to foreign nations, until he was appointed Nuncio to Germany by Pope Benedict XV in 1917. In 1929, Pope Pius XI elevated Monsignor Pacelli to the Sacred College of Cardinals and nominated him as his Secretary of State.

Pope Pius XII's Pontificate spanned the years of the Second World War and beyond.  He died on 9th October, 1958 at the age of 82 and is buried in the crypt of Saint Peter's Basilica.

An attempt to present a balanced account of his not uncontroversial life and work can be found here.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.


Monsignor Pacelli (left) at the signing of the Concordat with Serbia
immediately prior to the Outbreak of World War I.



Cardinal Pacelli visiting The Liberty Bell during a visit to
the United States in 1936.



The newly-elected Pius XII addressing the Sacred College in the Sistine Chapel.


Pius XII giving his Urbi et Orbi Blessing from S' Peter's
following his Coronation as Pope in 1939.


Pius XII giving his Urbi et Orbi Blessing
following his Coronation as Pope.



Vested in the Papal mantum and Triple tiara,
Pope Pius is borne on the sede gestatoria of Pope Pius VII.


Pius XII consecrating new missionary bishops
at the Altar of the Chair in S' Peter's, 1939.


Pius XII offering Low Mass at the Altar of the Confession
in S' Peter's Basilica.