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129-591: The Federation also encourages the formation of small study groups for Bible reading as well as the creation of educational tools for use in these settings. First organized under the name The World Catholic Federation for the Biblical Apostolate in 1969, the Federation shorted its name in 1990 at its fourth Plenary Assembly held in Colombia. With the support of Cardinal Augustino Bea, its establishment

258-504: A Baden Concordat which continued until the spring and summer of 1932. Papal fiat appointed a supporter of Pacelli and his concordat policy, Conrad Gröber , the new Archbishop of Freiburg , and the treaty was signed in August 1932. Others followed: Austria (1933), Germany (1933), Yugoslavia (1935) and Portugal (1940). The Lateran treaties with Italy (1929) were concluded before Pacelli became Secretary of State. Catholicism had become

387-655: A curate at Chiesa Nuova . In 1901, he entered the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs , a sub-office of the Vatican Secretariat of State . Pietro Gasparri , the recently appointed undersecretary at the Department of Extraordinary Affairs, had underscored his proposal to Pacelli to work in the "Vatican's equivalent of the Foreign office" by highlighting the "necessity of defending

516-550: A century earlier there were 737 Council Fathers, mostly from Europe ). At Vatican II, some 250 bishops were native-born Asians and Africans, whereas at Vatican I, there were none at all. General Congregations (§3, 20, 33, 38–39, 52–63). The Council Fathers met in daily sittings – known as General Congregations – to discuss the schemas and vote on them. These sittings took place in St. Peter's Basilica every morning until 12:30 Monday to Saturday (except Thursday). The average daily attendance

645-716: A doctoral degree awarded on the basis of a short dissertation and an oral examination in Latin . While all other candidates from the Rome diocese were ordained in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran , Pacelli was ordained a priest on Easter Sunday , 2 April 1899, alone in the private chapel of a family friend the Vicegerent of Rome, Francesco di Paola Cassetta . Shortly after ordination he began postgraduate studies in canon law at Sant'Apollinaire. He received his first assignment as

774-435: A few days to allow each national group of bishops to meet and draw up a list of its own members who might be suitable candidates. Cardinal Frings , the senior German bishop, rose to second the motion. There was loud applause and the motion was declared carried. That day's sitting was adjourned after only 15 minutes. For the next few days, Council Fathers met in national groups and drew up lists of candidates. The bishops from

903-493: A few months, on 7 February 1930, Pius XI appointed him Cardinal Secretary of State , responsible for foreign policy and state relations throughout the world. In 1935, Pacelli was named Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church . As Cardinal Secretary of State, Pacelli signed concordats with a number of countries and states. Immediately on becoming Cardinal Secretary of State, Pacelli and Ludwig Kaas took up negotiations on

1032-407: A list of the bishops who had served on the preparatory commissions, as if to suggest that they elect the same people to the conciliar commissions, with the result that Curial forces would dominate the conciliar commissions as they had dominated the preparatory commissions. As the voting was about to begin, Cardinal Liénart , the senior French bishop, rose and proposed that the election be delayed for

1161-405: A modest decentralization of liturgical authority to national episcopal conferences. The conservatives objected to all these proposals, especially to the downgrading of Latin. Debate dragged on for 15 days, before the vote was taken on whether the schema was acceptable in principle. To everyone's surprise, only 46 (out of 2,215) voted against. A second win for renewal. The schema was now returned to

1290-462: A more understandable and relevant way. Support for aggiornamento won out over resistance to change, and as a result the sixteen magisterial documents produced by the council proposed significant developments in doctrine and practice, notably The council had a significant impact on the Church due to the scope and variety of issues it addressed. Some of the most notable changes were in performance of

1419-534: A number of schemas were consolidated and merged, with the result that the total number of schemas was whittled down from 70 to 22. Paragraph numbers in this section refer to the Council Regulations published in the motu proprio Appropinquante concilio , of 6 August 1962. Council Fathers (§1). All the bishops of the world, as well as the heads of the main religious orders of men, were entitled to be "Council Fathers", that is, full participants with

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1548-785: A personal envoy—who did not require Senate confirmation—to the Holy See in December 1939, re-establishing a diplomatic tradition that had been broken since 1870 when the Pope lost temporal power . Pacelli presided as Papal Legate over the International Eucharistic Congress in Buenos Aires , Argentina on 10–14 October 1934, and in Budapest on 25–30 May 1938. At this time, anti-semitic laws were in

1677-538: A platform from which they could work to further their views. Private Periti (§11). Each bishop was allowed to bring along a personal theological adviser of his choice. Known as "private periti ", they were not official Council participants and could not attend General Congregations or commission meetings. But like the official periti , they gave informal talks to groups of bishops, bringing them up to date on developments in their particular area of expertise. Karl Rahner , Joseph Ratzinger and Hans Küng first went to

1806-571: A pleasing and acceptable sacrifice. This way, the church re-establishes the unity between the Creator and His creatures. The Sacrifice of the Altar, being Christ's own actions, conveys and dispenses divine grace from Christ to the members of the Mystical Body. Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa , a long-time critic of Pius XII's policies during World War II and an opponent of clerical celibacy and

1935-556: A response in very limited circles. By 1960, the movement was still in its infancy. By the 1930s, mainstream theology based on neo-scholasticism and papal encyclicals was being rejected by some theologians as dry and uninspiring. Thus was born the movement called ressourcement , the return to the sources: basing theology directly on the Bible and the Church Fathers . Some theologians also began to discuss new topics, such as

2064-503: A seasoned Vatican diplomat, had reestablished diplomatic relations with Switzerland and was for twelve years nuncio in Paris . Yet, Maglione did not exercise the influence of his predecessor Pacelli, who as Pope continued his close relation with Giovanni Battista Montini (later Pope Paul VI ) and Domenico Tardini . After the death of Maglione in 1944, Pius left the position open and named Tardini head of its foreign section and Montini head of

2193-632: A six-year renewable term. The Executive Committee consists of three ex officio members, including the General Secretary, as well as six voting members. Of this latter group members are drawn from each of the Federation's four sub-regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe/the Middle East. Jan J. Stefanów SVD has been General Secretary since January 2014. The appointment of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila as its President

2322-415: A title used exclusively by Italian Popes . He was quoted as saying "I call myself Pius; my whole life was under Popes with this name, but especially as a sign of gratitude towards Pius XI ." On 15 December 1937, during his last consistory, Pius XI strongly hinted to the cardinals that he expected Pacelli to be his successor, saying "He is in your midst." He had previously been quoted as saying: "When today

2451-426: A two-thirds majority. For each schema, after a preliminary discussion there was a vote whether it was considered acceptable in principle, or rejected. If acceptable, debate continued with votes on individual chapters and paragraphs. Bishops could submit amendments, which were then written into the schema if they were requested by many bishops. Votes continued in this way until wide agreement was reached, after which there

2580-665: A worrying impression of anti-Semitism is discernible in the "catalogue of epithets describing their physical and moral repulsiveness" and Pacelli's "constant harping on the Jewishness of this party of power usurpers" chimed with the "growing and widespread belief among Germans that the Jews were the instigators of the Bolshevik revolution , their principal aim being the destruction of Christian civilization". Also according to Cornwell, Pacelli informed Gasparri that "the capital of Bavaria,

2709-582: Is one thing; the manner in which these truths are set forth (with their meaning preserved intact) is something else. The first working session of the council was on 13 October 1962. That day's agenda included the election of members of the 10 conciliar commissions. Each was to have 16 members elected by the Council Fathers and 8 – later 9 – members appointed by the Pope. Most bishops knew very few bishops other than those from their own country, and so did not know whom to vote for. They had been provided with

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2838-685: Is suffering under a harsh Jewish-Russian revolutionary tyranny". According to Sister Pascalina Lehnert, the Nuncio was repeatedly threatened by emissaries of the Bavarian Soviet Republic . Once, in a violation of international law, the Bavarian Revolutionary Government attempted to confiscate the Nunciature's car at gunpoint. Despite their demands, however, Pacelli refused to leave his post. After

2967-714: The Reichskonkordat treaty with the German Reich . 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. Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, through directing

3096-757: The Bishop of Passau , in Bavaria: "The history of the Reichskonkordat shows, that the other side lacked the most basic prerequisites to accept minimal freedoms and rights of the Church, without which the Church simply cannot live and operate, formal agreements notwithstanding". Cardinal Pacelli gave a lecture entitled "La Presse et L'Apostolat" at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum on 17 April 1936. Pope Pius XI died on 10 February 1939. Several historians have interpreted

3225-591: The Decree against Communism , declaring that Catholics who profess the atheistic and materialist doctrines of communism 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 . Despite all this, Stalin himself was still open to coordinating with Pius XII on the struggle against persecution of

3354-913: The Ennio Quirino Visconti Liceo Ginnasio , a state school situated in what had been the Collegio Romano , the premier Jesuit university in Rome. In 1894, aged 18, Pacelli began his theology studies at Rome's oldest seminary, the Almo Collegio Capranica , and in November of the same year, registered to take a philosophy course at the Jesuit Pontifical Gregorian University and theology at the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare . He

3483-525: The Middle East and increased the number of Cardinals from the Americas, proportionally lessening the Italian influence. In his second consistory on 12 January 1953, it was expected that his closest co-workers, Msgrs. Domenico Tardini and Giovanni Montini would be elevated and Pius XII informed the assembled cardinals that both of them were originally on the top of his list, but they had turned down

3612-871: The Sistine Chapel on 13 May 1917, the same day as the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal . After his consecration, Eugenio Pacelli left for Bavaria . As there was no nuncio to Prussia or Germany at the time, Pacelli was, for all practical purposes, the nuncio to all of the German Empire . Once in Munich , he conveyed the papal initiative to end the war to German authorities. He met with King Ludwig III on 29 May, and later with Kaiser Wilhelm II and Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg , who replied positively to

3741-504: The World Council of Churches were represented. The observers were entitled to sit in on all general assemblies (but not the commissions) and they mingled with the Council Fathers during the breaks and let them know their reactions to speeches or to schemas. Pope Paul VI welcomed their participation "with gratitude and respect". Their presence helped to break down centuries of mistrust. Lay auditors . While not provided for in

3870-591: The nunciature in Belgrade , Gerald P. O'Hara as nuncio to Romania , and Aloisius Joseph Muench as nuncio to Germany. For the first time, numerous young Europeans, Asians and "Americans were trained in various congregations and secretariats within the Vatican for eventual service throughout the world". Only twice in his pontificate did Pius XII hold a consistory to create new cardinals , in contrast to Pius XI, who had done so 17 times in as many years. Pius XII chose not to name new cardinals during World War II, and

3999-856: The use of Latin as language of the liturgy , was excommunicated by Pius XII on 2 July 1945. He later established a schismatic group called the " Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church ". Decentralized authority and increased independence of the Uniate Churches were aimed at in the Canon Law /Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC) reform. In its new constitutions, Eastern Patriarchs were made almost independent from Rome (CIC Orientalis, 1957) Eastern marriage law (CIC Orientalis, 1949), civil law (CIC Orientalis, 1950), laws governing religious associations (CIC Orientalis, 1952) property law (CIC Orientalis, 1952) and other laws. These reforms and writings of Pius XII were intended to establish Eastern Orientals as equal parts of

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4128-699: The "antepreparatory period". On 17 May 1959, Pope John appointed an Antepreparatory Commission to conduct a vast consultation of the Catholic world concerning topics to be examined at the council. Three groups of people were consulted: the bishops of the world, the Catholic universities and faculties of theology, and the departments of the Curia. By the following summer, 2,049 individuals and institutions had replied with 9,438 individual vota ("wishes"). Some were typical of past ways of doing things, asking for new dogmatic definitions or condemnations of errors. Others were in

4257-447: The "prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster" for the church or world. He spoke of the advantage of separation of Church and state but also the challenge to integrate faith with public life. What is needed at the present time is a new enthusiasm, a new joy and serenity of mind in the unreserved acceptance by all of the entire Christian faith, without forfeiting that accuracy and precision in its presentation which characterized

4386-536: The 5 European countries (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria) that spearheaded the renewal movement decided to create a single list, to which a number of renewal-minded bishops from other countries were added, for a total of 109 names. The election took place on October 16. It brought in new blood: 79 of these 109 were elected to a commission seat and 50% of the members of the very important doctrinal commission were among these 79. In addition 43% of

4515-545: The Bavarian Soviet Republic was defeated and toppled by Freikorps and Reichswehr troops, the Nuncio focused on, according to Lehnert, "alleviating the distress of the postwar period, consoling, supporting all in word and deed". Pacelli was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Germany on 23 June 1920, and – after the completion of a Bavarian Concordat (1924) – his nunciature was moved to Berlin in August 1925. Many of Pacelli's Munich staff stayed with him for

4644-589: The Bavarian concordat. However, Pacelli obtained less favorable conditions for the church in the Prussian Concordat of 1929, which excluded educational issues. A concordat with the German state of Baden was completed by Pacelli in 1932, after he had moved to Rome. There he also negotiated a concordat with Austria in 1933. A total of 16 concordats and treaties with European states had been concluded in

4773-633: The Cabinet were regular guests. In post-war Germany, in the absence of a nuncio in Moscow, Pacelli worked also on diplomatic arrangements between the Vatican and the Soviet Union . He negotiated food shipments for Russia, where the Catholic Church was persecuted. He met with Soviet representatives including Foreign Minister Georgi Chicherin , who rejected any kind of religious education, the ordination of priests and bishops, but offered agreements without

4902-652: The Cardinal Secretary of State officiated at the baptism of the Infante Juan Carlos ( King of Spain from 1975 to 2014), in a ceremony held at the Palazzo Malta in Rome . The Reichskonkordat was an integral part of four concordats Pacelli concluded on behalf of the Vatican with German States. The state concordats were necessary because the German federalist Weimar constitution gave

5031-687: The Catholic Centre Party , a party he led following Wilhelm Marx 's resignation in October 1928. While in Germany, he travelled to all regions, attended Katholikentag (national gatherings of the faithful), and delivered some 50 sermons and speeches to the German people. In Berlin he lived in the Tiergarten quarter and threw parties for the official and diplomatic elite. Paul von Hindenburg , Gustav Stresemann , and other members of

5160-589: The Catholic Church to organize youth groups, make ecclesiastical appointments, run schools, hospitals, and charities, or even conduct religious services. They also ensured that canon law would be recognized within some spheres (e.g., church decrees of nullity in the area of marriage). As the decade began Pacelli wanted the Centre Party in Germany to turn away from the socialists. In the summer of 1931 he clashed with Catholic Chancellor Heinrich Brüning , who frankly told Pacelli he believed that he "misunderstood

5289-572: The Catholic church. He explicitly invoked ex cathedra papal infallibility with the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in his Apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus . 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

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5418-565: The Church from the onslaughts of secularism and liberalism throughout Europe". Pacelli became an apprendista , an apprentice, in Gasparri's department. In January 1901 he was also chosen, by Pope Leo XIII himself, according to an official account, to deliver condolences on behalf of the Vatican to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom after the death of Queen Victoria . By 1904 Pacelli received his doctorate. The theme of his thesis

5547-647: The Council Prominent Reform-minded Bishops at the Council Prominent reform-minded theologians at the Council John XXIII opened the council on 11 October 1962 in a public session at St. Peter's Basilica and delivered his opening address Gaudet Mater Ecclesia  ("Mother Church Rejoices") before the Council Fathers and representatives of 86 governments or international groups. He criticized

5676-646: The Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. According to John Cornwell "the text, together with the Anti-Modernist Oath , became the means by which the Holy See was to establish and sustain the new, unequal, and unprecedented power relationship that had arisen between the papacy and the Church". In 1908, Pacelli served as a Vatican representative on the International Eucharistic Congress , accompanying Rafael Merry del Val to London, where he met Winston Churchill . In 1911, he represented

5805-586: The Doctrinal Commission (representing the conservative tendency) and the Secretariat for Christian Unity (representing the renewal tendency). A third victory for renewal and a crucial turning point at the council. This innocuous schema could be boiled down to two propositions that had been said many times before: the Church must use the media to further its mission, and people must be protected against immorality and other dangers presented by

5934-476: The Father". He aids us likewise through His Church, where He is present indefectibly as the ages run their course: through the Church which He constituted "the pillar of truth" and dispenser of grace, and which by His sacrifice on the cross, He founded, consecrated and confirmed forever. The church has, therefore, according to Pius XII, a common aim with Christ himself, teaching all men the truth, and offering to God

6063-480: The German bishops in their anti-Nazi stand'. This was matched with the discovery of Pacelli's anti-Nazi report, written the following year for President Roosevelt and filed with Ambassador Joseph Kennedy , which declared that the church regarded compromise with the Third Reich as 'out of the question'." Historian Walter Bussmann argued that Pacelli, as Cardinal Secretary of State, dissuaded Pope Pius XI – who

6192-441: The German states authority in the area of education and culture and thus diminished the authority of the churches in these areas; this diminution of church authority was a primary concern of the Vatican. As Bavarian nuncio, Pacelli negotiated successfully with the Bavarian authorities in 1924 . He expected the concordat with Catholic Bavaria to be the model for the rest of Germany. Prussia showed interest in negotiations only after

6321-468: The Holy See at the coronation of George V and Mary . Pacelli became the under-secretary in 1911, adjunct-secretary in 1912 (a position he received under Pope Pius X and retained under Pope Benedict XV ), and secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in February 1914. On 24 June 1914, just four days before Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo , Pacelli, together with Cardinal Merry del Val, represented

6450-415: The Italian monopoly on the Roman Curia ; he employed German and Dutch Jesuit advisors, Robert Leiber, Augustin Bea , and Sebastian Tromp . He also supported the elevation of Americans such as Cardinal Francis Spellman from a minor to a major role in the church. After World War II, Pius XII appointed more non-Italians than any Pope before him. American appointees included Joseph P. Hurley as regent of

6579-434: The Mass, including that vernacular languages could be authorized as well as Latin. Pope Pius XII's 1943 encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu gave a renewed impetus to Catholic Bible studies and encouraged the production of new Bible translations from the original languages. This led to a pastoral attempt to get ordinary Catholics to re-discover the Bible, to read it, to make it a source of their spiritual life. This found

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6708-512: The Nuncio was deeply sorry that the chance had been missed to save what there was to save, it occurs to me over and over again how clearly he foresaw what was to come. Once as he traced the course of the Rhine with his finger on a map, he said sadly, 'No doubt this will be lost as well'. I did not want to believe it, but here, too, he was to be proved right." For the remainder of the Great War, Pacelli concentrated on Benedict's humanitarian efforts especially among Allied POWs in German custody. In

6837-436: The Official Regulations, a small number of lay people were invited to attend as "auditors" beginning with the Second Session. While not allowed to take part in debate, a few of them were asked to address the council about their concerns as lay people. The first auditors were all male, but beginning with the third session, a number of women were also appointed. In the very first weeks of the council proceedings, it became clear to

6966-425: The Papal Ministry of Finances and then Secretary of the Interior under Pope Pius IX from 1851 to 1870 and helped found the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano in 1861. His cousin, Ernesto Pacelli , was a key financial advisor to Pope Leo XIII ; his father, Filippo Pacelli, a Franciscan tertiary , was the dean of the Roman Rota ; and his brother, Francesco Pacelli , became a lay canon lawyer and

7095-437: The Papal initiative. However, Bethmann Hollweg was forced to resign and the German High Command , hoping for a military victory, delayed the German reply until 20 September. Sister Pascalina Lehnert later recalled that the Nuncio was heartbroken that the Kaiser turned a "deaf ear to all his proposals". She later wrote, "Thinking back today on that time, when we Germans still all believed that our weapons would be victorious and

7224-420: The Pope could be convinced to forget about aggiornamento . On the other side were those theologians and bishops who had been working towards a new way of doing things, some of whom had been silenced and humiliated by the Curia in the 1940s and 1950s. For them, the council came as a "divine surprise", the opportunity to convince the bishops of the world to turn away from a fortress-like defensive attitude to

7353-400: The Pope dies, you'll get another one tomorrow, because the Church continues. It would be a much bigger tragedy, if Cardinal Pacelli dies, because there is only one. I pray every day, God may send another one into one of our seminaries, but as of today, there is only one in this world." After his election, he made Luigi Maglione his successor as Cardinal Secretary of State. Cardinal Maglione,

7482-424: The Pope's announcement of a Council, they realized that it could be the culmination of the Church's program of resistance to Protestantism , the Enlightenment and all the other perceived errors of the modern world. It was also seen as an opportunity to give the stamp of conciliar infallibility to the teachings of the most recent popes and to the Curia's vision of the role of the Church in the modern world, provided

7611-487: The Secretariat of State, making him undersecretary. During World War I, Pacelli maintained the Vatican's registry of prisoners of war and worked to implement papal relief initiatives. In 1915, he travelled to Vienna to assist Raffaele Scapinelli , nuncio to Vienna, in his negotiations with Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria regarding Italy. Pope Benedict XV appointed Pacelli as nuncio to Bavaria on 23 April 1917, consecrating him as titular Archbishop of Sardis in

7740-442: The Vatican when the Serbian Concordat was signed. Serbia 's success in the First Balkan War against Turkey in 1912 had increased the number of Catholics within greater Serbia. At this time Serbia, encouraged by Russia , was challenging Austria-Hungary 's sphere of influence throughout the Balkans . Pius X died on 20 August 1914. His successor Benedict XV named Gasparri as secretary of state and Gasparri took Pacelli with him into

7869-405: The appointment of a papal administrator for Danzig and aided the reintegration of German priests expelled from Poland . A Prussian Concordat was signed on 14 June 1929. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 , the beginnings of a world economic slump appeared, and the days of the Weimar Republic were numbered. Pacelli was summoned back to Rome at this time—the call coming by telegram when he

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7998-432: The autumn of each of the four years 1962 to 1965, although it had been anticipated initially that the work of the Council would have been complete after three sessions. Pope John XXIII called the council because he felt the Church needed "updating" (in Italian: aggiornamento ). In order to better connect with people in an increasingly secularized world, some of the Church's practices needed to be improved and presented in

8127-542: The beginning of the council, there were 224 official periti, but their number would eventually rise to 480. They could attend the debates in the General Congregations, but could not speak. The theologians who had been silenced during the 1940s and 1950s, such as Yves Congar and Henri de Lubac, and some theologians who were under suspicion in Roman circles at the beginning of the 1960s, such as Karl Rahner and Hans Küng, were appointed periti because of their expertise. Their appointment served to vindicate their ideas and gave them

8256-473: The chapter hall of the Benedictine monastery attached to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome came as a surprise to the cardinals present. He had tested the idea only ten days before with one of them, his Cardinal Secretary of State Domenico Tardini , who gave enthusiastic support to the idea. Although the pope later said the idea came to him in a flash in his conversation with Tardini, two cardinals had earlier attempted to interest him in

8385-508: The church and the Catholic Centre Party . He sent his vice chancellor Franz von Papen , a Catholic nobleman, to Rome to offer negotiations about a Reichskonkordat. On behalf of Pacelli, Prelate Ludwig Kaas , the outgoing chairman of the Centre Party, negotiated first drafts of the terms with von Papen. The concordat was finally signed, by Pacelli for the Vatican and von Papen for Germany, on 20 July and ratified on 10 September 1933. Bishop Konrad von Preysing cautioned against compromise with

8514-424: 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 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. During his papacy, the Catholic Church issued

8643-409: The conclave to choose his successor as facing a choice between a diplomatic or a spiritual candidate, and they view Pacelli's diplomatic experience, especially with Germany, as one of the deciding factors in his election on 2 March 1939, his 63rd birthday, after only one day of deliberation and three ballots. He was the first cardinal Secretary of State to be elected pope since Clement IX in 1667. He

8772-402: The convent of the French Sisters of Divine Providence in the Piazza Fiammetta. The family worshipped at Chiesa Nuova . Eugenio and the other children made their First Communion at this church and Eugenio served there as an altar boy from 1886. In 1886, he also was sent to the private school of Professor Giuseppe Marchi, close to the Piazza Venezia . In 1891 Pacelli's father sent Eugenio to

8901-410: The council as some bishop's personal theologian, and were later appointed official periti . Some notable theologians, such as Edward Schillebeeckx , remained private periti for the whole duration of the council. Observers (§18) . An important innovation was the invitation by Pope John to Orthodox and Protestant Churches to send observers to the council. Eventually 21 denominations or bodies such as

9030-399: The death of Pius XII in 1958. By the early 1960s, other theologians under suspicion included Karl Rahner SJ and the young Hans Küng . In addition, there was the unfinished business of the First Vatican Council (1869–70). When it had been cut short by the Italian Army's entry into Rome at the end of Italian unification , the only topics that had been completed were the theology of

9159-513: The existence of the draft only after the death of Pius XI and did not promulgate it as Pope. He did use parts of it in his inaugural encyclical Summi Pontificatus , which he titled "On the Unity of Human Society". His various positions on church and policy issues during his tenure as Cardinal Secretary of State were made public by the Holy See in 1939. Most noteworthy among the 50 speeches is his review of Church-State issues in Budapest in 1938. A year before his papal election, on 26 January 1938,

9288-473: The first official denunciation of Nazism made by any major organization and resulted in persecution of the church by the infuriated Nazis who closed all the participating presses and "took numerous vindictive measures against the Church, including staging a long series of immorality trials of the Catholic clergy". On 10 June 1941, the Pope commented on the problems of the Reichskonkordat in a letter to

9417-401: The highest level". When he returned to Munich, following Eisner's assassination by Bavarian nationalist Count Anton von Arco auf Valley , he informed Gasparri-using Schioppa's eye-witness testimony of the chaotic scene at the former royal palace as the trio of Max Levien , Eugen Levine , and Tobias Akselrod sought power: "the scene was indescribable [-] the confusion totally chaotic [-] in

9546-532: The historical dimension of theology, the theology of work, ecumenism, the theology of the laity and the theology of "earthly realities". These writings, whose new style came to be called la nouvelle théologie ('the new theology'), attracted Rome's attention, and in 1950 Pius XII published Humani generis , an encyclical "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic doctrine". Without citing specific individuals, he criticized those who advocated new schools of theology. It

9675-635: 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. Pacelli remains

9804-444: The idea. They were two of the most conservative, Ernesto Ruffini and Alfredo Ottaviani , who had already in 1948 proposed the idea to Pius XII and who put it before John XXIII on 27 October 1958. Over the course of the next 3 years, the Pope would make many statements describing the results he expected from the council. They formed something like 3 concentric circles: Two less solemn statements are attributed to John XXIII about

9933-462: The internal section. Tardini and Montini continued serving there until 1953, when Pius XII decided to appoint them cardinals, an honor which both turned down. They were then later appointed to be Pro-Secretary with the privilege to wear Episcopal Insignia. Tardini continued to be a close co-worker of the Pope until the death of Pius XII, while Montini became archbishop of Milan , after the death of Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster . Pius XII slowly eroded

10062-489: The last pope to take the regnal name of Pius to the present day. Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli was born on the second day of Lent, 2 March 1876, in Rome into an upper class family of intense Catholic piety with a history of ties to the papacy (the " Black Nobility "). His parents were Filippo Pacelli  [ it ] (1837–1916) and Virginia (née Graziosi) Pacelli (1844–1920). His grandfather Marcantonio Pacelli  [ it ] had been Under-Secretary in

10191-597: The legal advisor to Pope Pius XI , in which role he negotiated the Lateran Treaty in 1929 with Benito Mussolini , bringing an end to the Roman Question . Together with his brother Francesco (1872–1935) and his two sisters, Giuseppina (1874–1955) and Elisabetta (1880–1970), he grew up in the Parione district in the centre of Rome. Soon after the family had moved to Via Vetrina in 1880, he began school at

10320-454: The legal position of the church. Pacelli, who knew German conditions well, emphasized in particular protection for Catholic associations (§31), freedom for education and Catholic schools, and freedom for publications. As nuncio during the 1920s, he had made unsuccessful attempts to obtain German agreement for such a treaty, and between 1930 and 1933 he attempted to initiate negotiations with representatives of successive German governments, but

10449-621: The liturgy commission to deal with many proposed amendments. This schema from the preparatory theological commission took the conservative position on all questions currently being discussed by theologians. Reformers were particularly opposed to two claims: that there were revealed truths in Tradition that were not contained in Scripture and that every assertion in the Bible was free of error. The debate lasted six days. The dramatic vote on acceptance in principle came on November 20. The question

10578-533: The media. There was little interest in pursuing the discussion. On November 27, the council decided the schema should contain only essential principles, leaving detailed practical matters to be dealt with after the council. The schema was accepted in principle and returned to its commission to be abridged. Pius XII Pope Pius XII (born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , Italian pronunciation: [euˈdʒɛːnjo maˈriːa dʒuˈzɛppe dʒoˈvanni paˈtʃɛlli] ; 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958)

10707-433: The midst of all this, a gang of young women, of dubious appearance, Jews like the rest of them hanging around [-] the boss of this female rabble was Levien's mistress, a young Russian woman, a Jew and a divorcée [-] and it was to her that the nunciature was obliged to pay homage in order to proceed [-] Levien is a young man, also Russian and a Jew. Pale, dirty, with drugged eyes, vulgar, repulsive ..." John Cornwell alleges that

10836-408: The modern world and set off in a new direction towards a renewed theology of the Church and of the laity, ecumenism and the reform of the liturgy. The council was officially summoned by the apostolic constitution Humanae Salutis on 25 December 1961. Preparation for the council took over three years, from the summer of 1959 to the autumn of 1962. The first year was known officially as

10965-451: The new regime, against those who saw the Nazi persecution of the church as an aberration that Hitler would correct. Between 1933 and 1939, Pacelli issued 55 protests of violations of the Reichskonkordat . Most notably, early in 1937, Pacelli asked several German cardinals, including Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber , to help him write a protest of Nazi violations of the Reichskonkordat ; this

11094-508: The newly elected commission members had not been on any preparatory commission. This was a first success for renewal. On 22 October, the first schema to be discussed was the one from the very reform-minded preparatory commission for liturgy. It had 8 chapters: It proposed many reforms, including active participation of the congregation, communal singing, a partial replacement of Latin by vernacular languages, communion under both kinds, concelebration, adaptation of liturgy to local cultures and

11223-505: The number of cardinals shrank to 38, with Dennis Joseph Dougherty of Philadelphia being the only living U.S. cardinal. The first occasion on 18 February 1946 yielded the elevation of a record 32 new cardinals, almost half of the College of Cardinals and reaching the canonical limit of 70 cardinals. In the 1946 consistory, Pius XII, while maintaining the maximum size of the College of Cardinals at 70, named cardinals from China , India ,

11352-399: The offer, and were rewarded instead with other promotions. Both Montini and Tardini would become Cardinals shortly after Pius' death; Montini later became Pope Paul VI . The two consistories of 1946 and 1953 brought an end to over five hundred years of Italians constituting a majority of the College of Cardinals . With few exceptions, Italian prelates accepted the changes positively; there

11481-516: The opposition of Protestant and Socialist parties, the instability of national governments and the care of the individual states to guard their autonomy thwarted this aim. In particular, the questions of denominational schools and pastoral work in the armed forces prevented any agreement on the national level, despite talks in the winter of 1932. Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor on 30 January 1933 and sought to gain international respectability and to remove internal opposition by representatives of

11610-770: The papacy and the relationship of faith and reason , while the theology of the episcopate and of the laity were left unaddressed. The role of the Second Vatican Council in continuing and completing the work of the first was noted by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam (1964). At the same time, the world's bishops were facing challenges driven by political, social, economic, and technological change. Some of these bishops were seeking new ways of addressing those challenges. John XXIII gave notice of his intention to convene an ecumenical council on 25 January 1959, less than three months after his election in October 1958. His announcement in

11739-516: The participants that there were two "tendencies" among the Council Fathers, those who were supporters of aggiornamento and renewal, and those who were not. The two tendencies had already appeared in the deliberations of the Central Preparatory Commission before the opening of the council. In addition to popes John XXIII and Paul VI , these were the prominent actors at the council: Prominent Conservative Bishops at

11868-452: The points vital to the Vatican. Despite Vatican pessimism and a lack of visible progress, Pacelli continued the secret negotiations, until Pius XI ordered them to be discontinued in 1927. Pacelli supported German diplomatic activity aimed at rejection of punitive measures from victorious former enemies. He blocked French attempts for an ecclesiastical separation of the Saar region , supported

11997-700: The political situation in Germany and the real character of the Nazis". Following Brüning's resignation in May 1932 Pacelli, like the new Catholic chancellor Franz von Papen , wondered if the Centre Party should look to the Right for a coalition, "that would correspond to their principles". He made many diplomatic visits throughout Europe and the Americas, including an extensive visit to the United States in 1936 where he met President Franklin D. Roosevelt , who appointed

12126-473: The preparatory commission for theology, dominated by officials of the Holy Office (the curial department for theological orthodoxy) showed no signs of aggiornamento at all. The two notable exceptions were the preparatory commission for liturgy and the Secretariat for Christian unity, whose schemas were very much in the spirit of renewal. In addition to these specialist commissions and secretariats, there

12255-465: The preparatory period, continued to exist under its president Cardinal Augustin Bea throughout the 4 years of the council, with the same powers as a commission. The commissions were tasked with revising the schemas as Council Fathers submitted amendments. They met in the afternoons or evenings. Procedure was more informal than in the general assemblies: there was spontaneous debate, sometimes heated, and Latin

12384-538: The preparatory period, they were 10 in number, each covering the same area of Church life as a particular curial department and chaired by the cardinal who headed that department: Each commission included 25 Council Fathers (16 elected by the council and 9 appointed by the Pope) as well as consultors (official periti appointed by the pope). In addition, the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity , appointed during

12513-401: The press and television, and the Pope was present. There were 10 public sessions in the course of the council: the opening day of each of the council's four periods, 5 days when the Pope promulgated Council documents, and the final day of the council. Commissions (§5–6, 64–70). Much of the detailed work of the council was done in these commissions. Like the preparatory commissions during

12642-524: The pride of Lucifer". and as "bearers of a new faith and a new Evangile" who were attempting to create "a mendacious antimony between faithfulness to the Church and the Fatherland". Two years later at Notre Dame de Paris he named Germany as "that noble and powerful nation whom bad shepherds would lead astray into an ideology of race". Pacelli was made a Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio on 16 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI, and within

12771-680: The proceedings of the Council of Trent and the First Vatican Council. What is needed, and what everyone imbued with a truly Christian, Catholic and apostolic spirit craves today, is that this doctrine shall be more widely known, more deeply understood, and more penetrating in its effects on men's moral lives. What is needed is that this certain and immutable doctrine, to which the faithful owe obedience, be studied afresh and reformulated in contemporary terms. For this deposit of faith, or truths which are contained in our time-honored teaching

12900-664: The process of being formulated in Hungary . Pacelli made reference to the Jews "whose lips curse [Christ] and whose hearts reject him even today". This traditional adversarial relationship with Judaism would be reversed in Nostra aetate issued during the Second Vatican Council . According to Joseph Bottum , Pacelli in 1937 "warned A. W. Klieforth, that Hitler was 'an untrustworthy scoundrel and fundamentally wicked person', to quote Klieforth, who also wrote that Pacelli 'did not believe Hitler capable of moderation, and ... fully supported

13029-445: The public. Council Fathers were under an obligation not to reveal anything that went on in the daily sittings (§26). Secrecy soon broke down, and much information about the daily General Congregations was leaked to the press. The Pope did not attend General Congregations, but followed the deliberations on closed-circuit television. Public Sessions (§2, 44–51). These were similar to General Congregations, except that they were open to

13158-494: The purpose of the council. One is about opening the windows of the Church to let in some fresh air; the other about shaking off the imperial dust accumulated on the throne of St. Peter. The source for the second statement is Cardinal Léger of Montréal, as reported by Congar. The first statement has been repeated so many times as to be extremely difficult to verify. Once the officials of the Curia had recovered from their shock at

13287-647: The quarterly Bulletin DEI VERBUM . In 2009 the General Seceretariat was moved from Stuttgart to Sankt Ottilien in Germany. Every six years the Federation holds a Plenary Assembly. The first was held in Austria in 1972 and the most recent from 19 to 23 June 2015 in Nemi . In 1985 the Federation adopted its Constitution which was approved by Rome in accordance with the norms of Canon Law. The Constitution

13416-537: The rest of his life, including his advisor Robert Leiber and Sister Pascalina Lehnert—housekeeper, cook, friend, and adviser for 41 years. In Berlin, Pacelli was Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and active in diplomatic and many social activities. He was aided by the German priest Ludwig Kaas , who was known for his expertise in Church-state relations and was a full-time politician, politically active in

13545-457: The right to speak and vote. Their number was about 2,900, though some 500 of them would be unable to attend, either for reasons of health or old age, or because the Communist authorities of their country would not let them travel. The Council Fathers in attendance represented 79 countries: 38% were from Europe, 31% from the Americas, 20% from Asia & Oceania, and 10% from Africa. (At Vatican I

13674-414: The same area of responsibility as one of the main departments of the Curia and was chaired by the cardinal who headed that department. From the 9,438 proposals, a list of topics was created, and these topics were parcelled out to these commissions according to their area of competence. Some commissions prepared a separate schema for each topic they were asked to treat, others a single schema encompassing all

13803-465: The sole recognized religion; the powerful democratic Catholic Popular Party , in many ways similar to the Centre Party in Germany, had been disbanded, and in place of political Catholicism the Holy See encouraged Catholic Action . It was permitted only so long as it developed "its activity outside every political party and in direct dependence upon the Church hierarchy for the dissemination and implementation of Catholic principles". Such concordats allowed

13932-429: The spirit of aggiornamento , asking for reforms and new ways of doing things. The next two years (known officially as the "preparatory period") were occupied with preparing the drafts, called schemas , that would be submitted to the bishops for discussion at the council. On 5 June 1960, ten Preparatory Commissions were created, to which a total of 871 bishops and experts were appointed. Each preparatory commission had

14061-484: The ten-year period 1922–1932. The Reichskonkordat , signed on 20 July 1933, between Germany and the Holy See, while thus a part of an overall Vatican policy, was controversial from its beginning. It remains the most important of Pacelli's concordats. It is debated, not because of its content, which is still valid today, but because of its timing. A national concordat with Germany was one of Pacelli's main objectives as secretary of state, because he had hoped to strengthen

14190-431: The topics they were handed. These were the preparatory commissions and the number of schemas they prepared: Two secretariats – one the offshoot of an existing Vatican office, the other a new body – also had a part in drafting schemas: The total number of schemas was 70. As most of these preparatory bodies were predominantly conservative, the schemas they produced showed only modest signs of updating. The schemas drafted by

14319-630: The upheaval following the Armistice, a disconcerted Pacelli sought Benedict XV's permission to leave Munich, where Kurt Eisner had formed the Free State of Bavaria , and he left for a while to Rorschach , and a tranquil Swiss sanatorium run by nuns. Schioppa, the uditore , was left in Munich. "His recovery began with a 'rapport ' " with the 24-year-old Sister Pascalina Lehnert – she would soon be transferred to Munich when Pacelli "pulled strings at

14448-400: Was a Central Preparatory Commission , to which all the schemas had to be submitted for final approval. It was a large body of 108 members from 57 countries, including two thirds of the cardinals. As a result of its work, 22 schemas were eliminated from the conciliar agenda, mainly because they could be dealt with during a planned revision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law after the council, and

14577-579: Was a final vote on a document. This was followed some days later by a public session where the Pope promulgated the document as the official teaching of the council, following another, ceremonial, vote of the Council Fathers. There was an unwritten rule that, in order to be considered official Church teaching, a document had to receive an overwhelming majority of votes, somewhere in the area of 90%. This led to many compromises, as well as formulations that were broad enough to be acceptable by people on either side of an issue. All General Congregations were closed to

14706-421: Was about 2,200. Stands with tiers of seats for all the Council Fathers had been built on both sides of the central nave of St. Peter's. During the first session, a council of presidents, of 10 cardinals, was responsible for presiding over the general assemblies, its members taking turns chairing each day's sitting (§4). During the later sessions, this task belonged to a council of 4 Moderators. All votes required

14835-775: Was also enrolled at the State University, La Sapienza where he studied modern languages and history. At the end of the first academic year however, in the summer of 1895, he dropped out of both the Capranica and the Gregorian University. According to his sister Elisabetta, the food at the Capranica was to blame. Having received a special dispensation he continued his studies from home and so spent most of his seminary years as an external student. In 1899, he completed his education in Sacred Theology with

14964-978: Was also formally the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem , prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office , prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches and prefect of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation . There was however a Cardinal-Secretary to run these bodies on a day-to-day basis. Pacelli took the same papal name as his predecessor,

15093-635: Was confirmed by the Vatican on March 5, 2015. Second Vatican Council Nine decrees: Three declarations: The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican , commonly known as the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and 12 weeks, in

15222-507: Was generally understood that the encyclical was directly against the nouvelle théologie as well as developments in ecumenism and Bible studies. Some of these works were placed on the Index of Prohibited Books , and some of the authors were forbidden to teach or to publish. Those who suffered most were the Henri de Lubac SJ and Yves Congar OP , who were unable to teach or publish until

15351-664: 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

15480-569: Was made possible by several provisions concerning lay access to Bibles that were contained in Second Vatican Council documents, especially Dei verbum . That document called for "easy access" to the Bible for "all the Christian faithful" and opened the way to cooperation with the Interconfessional United Bible Societies , particularly in the work of translation. In 1972 the Federation moved its headquarters from Rome to Stuttgart and in 1986 began publishing

15609-1002: Was nearing death at the time —from condemning the Kristallnacht in November 1938, when he was informed of it by the papal nuncio in Berlin. The draft encyclical Humani generis unitas ("On the Unity of the Human Race") was ready in September 1938 but, according to those responsible for an edition of the document and other sources, it was not forwarded to the Holy See by the Jesuit General Wlodimir Ledóchowski . The draft encyclical contained an open and clear condemnation of colonialism , racial persecution and antisemitism . Historians Passelecq and Suchecky have argued that Pacelli learned about

15738-464: Was no protest movement or open opposition to the internationalization efforts. In his encyclical Mediator Dei , Pius XII links liturgy with the last will of Jesus Christ . But it is His will, that the worship He instituted and practised during His life on earth shall continue ever afterwards without intermission. For He has not left mankind an orphan. He still offers us the support of His powerful, unfailing intercession, acting as our "advocate with

15867-479: Was not the only language used. Like the General Congregations, they were closed to the public and subject to the same rules of secrecy. Official Periti (§9–10). These experts in theology, canon law and other areas were appointed by the Pope to advise the Council Fathers, and were assigned as consultors to the commissions, where they played an important part in re-writing the council documents. At

15996-423: Was one of only two men known to have served as Camerlengo immediately prior to being elected as pope (the other being Pope Leo XIII ). According to rumours, he asked for another ballot to be taken to ensure the validity of his election. After his election was indeed confirmed, he chose the name Pius XII in honour of his immediate predecessor. His coronation took place on 12 March 1939. Upon being elected pope he

16125-432: Was phrased in terms of rejection: Should the schema be rejected? Yes: 1,360. No: 822. This was 102 votes short of the two-thirds majority required by Council regulations, and so the council would have to continue discussing a schema that 62% of the participants rejected. Resolution of the impasse came the next day (November 21): Pope John announced the schema would be revised by a special joint commission made up of members of

16254-464: Was resting at his favourite retreat, the Rorschach convent sanatorium. He left Berlin on 10 December 1929. David G. Dalin wrote "of the forty-four speeches Pacelli gave in Germany as papal nuncio between 1917 and 1929, forty denounced some aspect of the emerging Nazi ideology". In 1935 he wrote a letter to Karl Joseph Schulte , the archbishop of Cologne, describing the Nazis as "false prophets with

16383-663: Was revised to its present form at the fifth Plenary Assembly held in Hong Kong in 1996 and approved by Rome the following year. The last revision was voted during the Plenary Assembly in Nemi. The Plenary Assembly is the highest decision-making authority within the Federation and is presided over by the General Secretary and an Executive Committee. The General Secretary is elected by the Executive Committee for

16512-433: Was the nature of concordats and the function of canon law when a concordat falls into abeyance. Promoted to the position of minutante , he prepared digests of reports that had been sent to the Secretariat from all over the world and in the same year became a papal chamberlain . In 1905 he received the title domestic prelate . From 1904 until 1916, he assisted Cardinal Pietro Gasparri in his codification of canon law with

16641-450: Was to become Pius XI's 1937 encyclical, Mit brennender Sorge . The encyclical was written in German and not the usual Latin of official Catholic Church documents. Secretly distributed by an army of motorcyclists and read from every German Catholic Church pulpit on Palm Sunday , it condemned the paganism of the Nazi ideology. Pius XI credited its creation and writing to Pacelli. It was

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