Pope Pius XII Vicar of Christ Servant of God Deserving of Sainthood

Father Eugenio Pacelli’s first assignment was as a curate at Chiesa Nuova, the church where he had served as an altar boy. While there, he taught catechism to the children who loved him because he was gentle, kind, patient and understanding. At the same time he pursued his studies for a doctorate in Canon Law and Civil Law at the Apollinaris. Incredibly, only two years later, he would add doctorates in Philosophy and in Theology.

In 1904, Father Pacelli became a Papal Chamberlain with the title of Monsignor and one year later a Domestic Prelate. The reception of all these honors did not keep the new Monsignor from continuing to teach catechism to children in one of Rome’s poorest quarters, or from conducting spiritual conferences for the French Sisters of Namur who ran an academy for girls of the Roman aristocracy. All this time he counseled working girls who resided at the House of Saint Rose in spiritual matters. His own spiritual life continued to be intense and exemplary. In addition to morning meditation and Mass, Pacelli always managed to find two hours a day to spend on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament. It would be a pattern he would follow his entire life.

In 1908, Pacelli attended the Eucharistic Congress in London. The 32-year-old priest was by that time well embarked on what would become a nearly 40-year career of brilliant diplomatic service for the Church. From 1904 to 1916, he was a research aide in the Office of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs where he assisted Cardinal Pietro Gasparri in the crucial task of clarifying and updating canon law. In 1910, Monsignor Pacelli was again back in London where he represented the Holy See at the Coronation of King George V.

In 1911, Pius X appointed Pacelli Undersecretary for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. This department of the Secretariat of State, negotiated terms of agreements with foreign governments that would allow the Church to carry out its teaching mission. In 1912, he was appointed Secretary. Two years later, he became Secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.

In 1914, Pius X died and Benedict XV was called to the Chair of Peter. On April 20, 1917, the new Pope appointed Monsignor Pacelli as Nuncio to Bavaria, Germany, a nation on the verge of military defeat and revolutionary chaos. Before assuming full responsibilities in Germany, Pacelli was consecrated a Bishop by Pope Benedict XV in the Sistine Chapel (May 13, 1917). He was then elevated to the rank of Archbishop and went to Germany to present his credentials to Ludwig Ill, King of Bavaria on May 28, 1917.

When he visited Kaiser Wilhelm II, Archbishop Pacelli begged him to do all in his power to end World War I. In his diary the Prussian wrote that he “liked the man from Rome well enough as a human being. But this was war. Let the British and French answer for it.” Benedict XV’s proposals for peaceful settlement were not accepted.

As World War I continued on all fronts with renewed fury, the young Nuncio dedicated himself to tending to the spiritual and physical assistance of the sick and wounded men in hospitals and to assisting prisoners of war in their camps and in their attempts to communicate with their families. After the war his reputation grew among both civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg, who was president of Germany from 1925 to 1934, wrote of “the noble conception Archbishop Pacelli had of his office, his wise objectivity, his inflexible sense of justice, his generous humanity and his great love for his neighbor.”

American newspaper and radio commentator Dorothy Thompson, wrote: “Those of us who were foreign correspondents in Berlin during the days of the Weimar Republic were not unfamiliar with the figure of the dean of the diplomatic corps. Tall, slender, with magnificent eyes, strong features and expressive hands, in his appearance and bearing Archbishop Pacelli looked every inch what he was - a Roman nobleman, of the proudest blood of the western world. In knowledge of German and European affairs and in diplomatic astuteness the Nuncio was without an equal.”

For decades Pacelli confronted world problems. On June 22, 1920, Pacelli became the first Apostolic Nuncio to Germany. Four years later, March 29, 924. he signed a concordat with Bavaria which was ratified by its Parliament, January 15, 1925. It determined the rights and duties of the Church and the government in respect to each other. After concluding a concordat with Bavaria, Pacelli was able to succeed with Prussia and Baden, but had no success with either the Reich or the Soviet Union. After some time in Munich, the Apostolic Nuncio’s residence was transferred to Berlin. His peace efforts did not succeed. The Germans were not ready for peace. As Nuncio and then as Vatican Secretary of State, Pacelli faced and feared the rise of the National Socialists.

Ever since the defeat of Germany when Communist mobs seized control of Munich in February 1919, the diplomatic corps from every country returned to safety except Pacelli, who continued his errands of mercy toward the desperate public. The Bolsheviks began a campaign of hate against Archbishop Pacelli. Armed terrorists penetrated the nunciature and, pointing a pistol at the Nunzio, demanded that he surrender his car. Pacelli refused. Tall and defiant, he slowly descended the stairs, stating: “You must leave at once! This house does not belong to the government, but to the Holy See. It is inviolable under international law.” As he held his pectoral cross, the socialist leader stepped forward, jamming his gun against the Archbishop’s chest. But the gun muzzle glanced off the pectoral cross and, seeing what he had struck, the man wavered and left without harming the Nunzio.

Shortly after this incident, while delivering food and medical supplies to a center for children dying of starvation, another mob attacked Pacelli’s car. The Nuncio ordered the chauffeur to stop the car and put down the top. Holding the Cross high above his head for all to see, he blessed the mob. “My mission is peace,” he said. “The only weapon we have is this Cross... . Why should you harm us?” Slowly the crowd dispersed. (Years later during a TV program, Bishop Fulton Sheen repeated this story adding: “The cross Pacelli wore that day is the cross I am now wearing!” He had received it as a token of the Pope’s esteem.)

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