Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The passage of the book of Sirach, in which it says that those who follow the Lord will find trials, difficulties and suffering, and the prologue of the First Letter of Saint Peter, in which he exhorts the communities of Asia Minor to persevere in the various trials and rejoice in the love of Christ and in the certainty of His invisible presence, was proclaimed during the Holy Mass that Benedict XVI celebrated in Saint Peter’s Basilica on October 9, on the 50th anniversary of the death of Servant of God Pius XII.
“In the light of these Biblical texts we can read about the earthly life of Pope Pacelli and his lengthy service to the Church, which began in 1901 under Leo XIII and continued with Saint Pius X, Benedict XV and Pius XI. These Biblical texts help us, above all, to understand which was the source he drew from for his courage and patience in his pontifical ministry, during the troubled years of World War II and the following ones, no less complex, of reconstruction and difficult international relationship of history called ‘the Cold War.’”
Inspired by the testament of Pius XII, the Holy Father observed: “To abandon oneself in the hands of the merciful God: This was the attitude my venerable Predecessor constantly cultivated.” In Germany, where he was the Apostolic Nuncio until 1929, “he left behind grateful memories, especially for having collaborated with Benedict XV in the attempt to stop the "useless slaughter" of the Great War, and for having realized from the beginning the danger of the monstrous Nazi-Socialist ideology with its pernicious anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic root. He was created a Cardinal in December 1929, and shortly after became the Secretary of State. For nine years he was a faithful collaborator of Pius XI, in a time marked by totalitarianism: Fascist, Nazi and Soviet Communism, all condemned by the encyclicals ‘Non Abbiamo Bisogno,’ ‘Mit Brennenbder Sorge’ and ‘Divini Redemptoris.’”
In the hardest moments of his pontificate, the Word of God became the light on his path, “a path in which Pope Pacelli had to comfort the homeless and persecuted persons, dry the tears of suffering and the crying of so many victims of the war... The war highlighted the love he felt for his "beloved Rome," a love demonstrated by the intense charitable work he undertook in defense of the persecuted, without any distinction of religion, ethnicity, nationality or political leanings... And how can we forget his Christmas radio message of December 1942? In a voice breaking with emotion he deplored the situation of ‘the hundreds of thousands of persons who, without any fault on their part, sometimes only because of their nationality or race, have been consigned to death or to a slow decline,’ a clear reference to the deportation and extermination of the Jews.”
Benedict XVI pointed out that “unfortunately, the historical debate on the figure of the Servant of God Pius XII, which has not always been the calmest, has prevented us shining a light on all the aspects of his multifaceted Pontificate,” recalling his many speeches and messages that he delivered to various groups of professionals, “some of which even today still possess an extraordinary relevance and continue to be a concrete point of reference.” Paul VI, who was his faithful collaborator for many years, described him as “an erudite man, an attentive scholar, open to modern means of research and culture, with an ever-strong and coherent fidelity both to the principles of human reasoning, as well as to the intangible depository of the truth of faith. He considered him a precursor of Vatican Council II.”
The Holy Father then quoted the Encyclical Mystici Corporis, in which Pius XII describes “the spiritual and visible relationships that unite men to the Word Incarnate, and he proposed integrating into this point of view all the principle themes of ecclesiology, offering for the first time a dogmatic and theological synthesis that would provide the basis for the Conciliar Dogmatic Constitution ‘Lumen Gentium.’” A few months later, with the Encyclical “Divino Afflante Spiritu,” “he laid down the doctrinal norms for the study of Sacred Scripture, highlighting its importance and role in Christian life,” and in the third encyclical, Mediator Dei, on the liturgy, which “provided an impulse to the liturgical movement.”
“We cannot do other then than acknowledge the notable impulse this Pontiff gave to the Church's missionary activity with the Encyclicals "Evangelii Praecones" (1951) and "Fidei Donum" (1957), that highlighted the duty of every community to announce the Gospel to the peoples, as Vatican II would go on to do with courageous strength. Pope Pacelli had already shown this love for the missions from the outset of his Pontificate when in October 1939 he had wanted to consecrate personally twelve bishops from mission countries, including an Indian, a Chinese and a Japanese, the first African bishop and the first bishop of Madagascar. One of his constant pastoral concerns, finally, was the promotion of the role of lay people so that the ecclesial community could make use of all its possible energy and resources.”
The Holy Father concluded his homily with the following words: “while we pray that the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Pius XII may continue smoothly, it is good to remember that sanctity was his ideal, an ideal he never failed to propose to everyone. This is why he promoted the causes of beatification and canonization for persons from different peoples, representatives of all states of life, roles and professions, and granted substantial space to women. And it was Mary, the Woman of salvation, whom he offered to humanity as a sign of certain hope, proclaiming the dogma of the Assumption, during the Holy Year of 1950. In this world of ours, which, like then, is assailed by worries and anguish about its future; in this world where, perhaps more than then, the distancing of many from truth and virtue allows us to glimpse scenarios without hope, Pius XII invites us to look to Mary assumed into the glory of Heaven.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 10/10/2008)
