cyanic-selkie/wikianc huggingface dataset:
Πάπας Πίος ΙΒ΄
Αρχιεπίσκοπος και Νούντσιος
Τη νύχτα που συνέβη το πραξικόπημα της μπιραρίας του Χίτλερ, ο Franz Matt, το μόνο μέλος της Βαυαρικής Κυβέρνησης που δε βρισκόταν στο Bürgerbräu Keller, δειπνούσε με τον Pacelli και τον Καρδινάλιο Michael von Faulhaber. Ο Αμερικανός διπλωμάτης Robert Murphy, ο οποίος βρισκόταν τότε στο Μόναχο, γράφει ότι «''όλοι οι ξένοι αντιπρόσωποι στο Μόναχο, συμπεριλαμβανομένου του Νούντσιου Pacelli, είχαν πειστεί ότι η πολιτική καριέρα του Χίτλερ είχε τελειώσει με ατιμωτικό τρόπο το 1924. Όταν τόλμησα να υπενθυμίσω στην Αγιότητά του αυτό το σημείο της ιστορίας (το 1945), γέλασε και είπε: 'Ξέρω τι εννοείτε, το αλάθητο του Πάπα. Μην ξεχνάτε, ήμουν ένας απλός μονσινιόρος τότε''' ».
Αρκετά χρόνια αφού τοποθετήθηκε Νούντσιος στη Γερμανία, και αφού υπογράφτηκε Κονκορδάτο με τη Βαυαρία, η Νουντσιατούρα μετακόμισε στο Βερολίνο. Πολλοί από το προσωπικό του Pacelli στο Μόναχο επρόκειτο να μείνουν μαζί του για όλη του τη ζωή, όπως ο σύμβουλός του, Robert Leiber και η Αδερφή Pascalina Lehnert, νοικοκυρά, φίλη και σύμβουλός του επί 41 χρόνια.
Στο Βερολίνο, ο Pacelli ήταν επικεφαλής του Διπλωματικού Σώματος και λάμβανε ενεργά μέρος στο διπλωμτικό και κοινωνικό γίγνεσθαι. Εκεί γνώρισε αξιοσημείωτους ανθρώπους, όπως τον Άλμπερτ Αϊνστάιν, τον Adolf von Harnack, τον Γκούσταβ Στρέζεμαν, και άλλους. Συνεργάστηκε με τον Γερμανό ιερέα Ludwig Kaas, ο οποίος θεωρούνταν αυθεντία σε θέματα σχέσεων Εκκλησίας-Κράτους και ήταν πολιτικά ενεργός στο Κεντρώο Κόμμα. Όσο διάρκεια έμεινε στη Γερμανία, εργάστηκε με ζήλο ως ιερέας. Ταξίδεψε σε πολλές περιοχές, συμμετείχε στην «Katholikentag» (εθνική μέρα συγκέντρωσης πιστών), και έβγαλε περί τους 50 λόγους και κηρύγματα προς γερμανικό κοινό.
Στη μεταπολεμική Γερμανία, ο Pacelli εργάστηκε κυρίως για την αποσαφήνιση των σχέσεων μεταξύ Εκκλησίας και Κράτους. Ελλείψει όμως παπικού νούντσιου στη Μόσχα, εργάστηκε επίσης και για τις διπλωματικές διευθετήσεις μεταξύ Βατικανού και Σοβιετικής Ένωσης. Διαπραγματεύτηκε αποστολές τροφίμων στη Ρωσία, όπου η Εκκλησία ήταν υπό διωγμόν. Συναντήθηκε με σοβιετικούς αντιπροσώπους, περιλαμβανομένου του Υπουργού Εξωτερικών Georgi Chicherin, ο οποίος αρνήθηκε οποιαδήποτε μορφή θρησκευτικής εκπαίδευσης και τη χειροτονία ιερέων και επισκόπων, προσφέρθηκε όμως να συμφωνήσει σε σημεία μη ζωτικής σημασίας για το Βατικανό. «Μια εξαιρετικά περίπλοκη συνομιλία μεταξύ δύο εξαιρετικά ευφυών ανδρών, όπως ο Pacelli και ο Chicherin, οι οποίοι δε φαίνονταν να απεχθάνονται ο ένας τον άλλο», έγραψε κάποιος αυτόπτης. Παρά την απαισιοδοξία του Βατικανού και την ανυπαρξία εμφανούς προόδου, ο Pacelli συνέχισε τις μυστικές διαπραγματεύσεις, μέχρι το 1927, οπότε ο Πάπας Πίος ΙΑ΄ του ζήτησε να τις διακόψει. <!--
thumb|200px|left|Eugenio Pacelli in 1922 When he returned to Rome, praise was heaped by Catholics and Protestants alike on Pacelli, who by now had become more popular than any German cardinal or bishop . Pacelli supported the Weimar Coalition with Social Democrats and liberal parties. Although he had cordial relations with representatives of the Centre Party such as Marx and Kaas, he did not involve the Centre in his dealings with the German government. 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 the appointment of a papal administrator for Danzig and aided the reintegration of priests expelled from Poland. . Pacelli was critical of German policy regarding financial reparations, which he considered unimaginative and lacking a sense of reality. He regretted the return of William, German Crown Prince from exile as destabilizing. After repeated German acts of sabotage against the French occupation forces in the Ruhr valley in 1923, German media reported a conflict between Pacelli and the German authorities. The Vatican denounced these acts against the French in the Ruhr.
When he returned to Rome in 1929, praise was heaped by Catholics and Protestants alike on Pacelli, who by now had become more popular than any German cardinal or bishop, which he had largely excluded from his negotiations and dealings with the German government.
Cardinal Secretary of State and Camerlengo
thumb|200px|right|Ο Eugenio Pacelli, νούντσιος στη [[Βαυαρία επισκέπτεται ομάδα επισκόπων.]] <!-- Pacelli was made a cardinal on 16 December, 1929 by Pope Pius XI, and within a few months, on 7 February 1930, Pius XI appointed him Cardinal Secretary of State. In 1935, Cardinal Pacelli was named Camerlengo.
As Cardinal Secretary of State, Pacelli signed concordats with a number of countries and states, including Baden (1932), Austria (1933), Germany (1933), Yugoslavia (1935) and Portugal (1940). The Lateran treaties with Italy (1929) were concluded before Pacelli became secretary of state. Such concordats allowed 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).
He made many diplomatic visits throughout Europe and the Americas, including an extensive visit to the United States in 1936 where he met with Charles Coughlin and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who appointed 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 October 10–14, 1934, and in Budapest on May 25–30, 1938.
Some historians have argued that Pacelli, as Cardinal Secretary of State, dissuaded Pope Pius XI — who was nearing death at the time — from condemning Kristallnacht in November 1938, when he was informed of it by the papal nuncio in Berlin. Likewise the prepared encyclical Humani Generis Unitas ("On the Unity of Human Society"), which was ready in September 1938 but, according to the two publishers of the encyclical and other sources, not forwarded to the Vatican by the Jesuit General Wlodimir Ledochowski. It contained an open and clear condemnation of colonialism, racism and antisemitism. Some historians have argued that Pacelli learned about its existence only after the death of Pius XI and did not promulgate it as Pope. He did however 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 Vatican in 1939. Most noteworthy among the fifty speeches is his review of church and state issues in Budapest 1938.
Reichskonkordat
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 the states authority in the area of education and culture, which were of main concern to Vatican policy. As Bavarian Nuncio, Pacelli negotiated successfully with the Bavarian authorities in 1925. He expected the concordat with Catholic Bavaria to be the model for the rest of Germany. Prussia showed interest in negotiations only after 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 the ten year period 1922-1932.
The Reichskonkordat, signed on July 20, 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 the legal position of the Church. Pacelli, who knew German conditions well, emphasized (1) protection for Catholic associations (§31), (2) freedom for education and Catholic schools, and, (3) 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 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 the Church and the Catholic Centre Party. He sent his vice chancellor Franz von Papen, a Catholic nobleman and former member of the Centre Party, to Rome to offer negotiations about a Reichskonkordat. On behalf of Cardinal Pacelli, Prelate Ludwig Kaas, the outgoing chairman of the Centre Party, negotiated first drafts of the terms with Papen. The concordat was finally signed, by Pacelli for the Vatican and von Papen for Germany, on 20 July and ratified on September 10, 1933.
Between 1933 and 1939, Pacelli issued 55 protests of violations of the Reichskonkordat. Most notably, early in 1937, Pacelli asked several German cardinals, including Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber to help him write a protest of Nazi violations of the Reichskonkordat; this was to become Pius XI's encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge. The encyclical, condemning the view that "exalts race, or the people, or the State, or a particular form of State ... above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level", was written in German instead of Latin and read in German churches on Palm Sunday 1937. On June 10, 1941 he commented on the problems of the Reichskonkordat in a letter to 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".
Election and coronation
Pope Pius XI died on February 10, 1939. Several historians have interpreted 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 March 2, 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 was also one of only three men known to have served as Camerlengo immediately prior to being elected as pope (the others being Pope Innocent VII and Pope Leo XIII). His coronation took place March 12, 1939.
Pacelli took the same papal name as his predecessor, 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 December 15, 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 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, Pius XII listed three objectives as pontiff.
Appointments
After his election, he appointed Luigi Cardinal Maglione to be his successor as Secretary of State. Maglione, a seasoned Vatican diplomat, had reestablished diplomatic relations with Switzerland and was for many years nuncio in Paris, France. Yet, Maglione did not exercise the influence of his predecessor Pacelli, who as Pope continued his close relation with Monsignors 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 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 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 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. Americans included Joseph P Hurley as regent of the nunciature in Belgrade, Gerald P. O'Hara Nuncio to Rumania and Monsignor Aloisius Joseph Muench as nuncio to Germany. For the first time, numerous young European, Asian and "Americans were trained in various congregations and secretariats within the Vatican for eventual service throughout the world."
Consistories
Only twice in his pontificate did Pius XII hold a consistory to create new cardinals, in contrast to Pius XI, who had done so seventeen times in seventeen years. Pius XII chose not to name new cardinals during World War II, and the number of cardinals shrank to 38, with Cardinal Denis Dougherty being the only living U.S. cardinal. The first occasion on February 18, 1946 — which has become known as the "Grand Consistory" — yielded the elevation of a record thirty-two new cardinals, almost 50% of the College of Cardinals and reaching the canonical limit of seventy cardinals. In the 1946 consistory Pius XII, while maintaining the maximum size of the College of Cardinals at 70, named cardinals from China, India, the Middle East and increased the number of Cardinals from the Americas, proportionally lessening the Italian influence
In his second consistory on January 12, 1953, it was expected that his closest co-workers, Monsignore Domenico Tardini and Monsignore Montini would be elevated & Pius XII informed the assembled cardinals that two persons were originally on the top of his list, but they had turned down the offer, and were rewarded instead with other promotions. 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 was no protest movement or open opposition to the internationalization efforts.
Earlier, in 1945, Pius XII had dispensed with the complicated papal conclave procedures which attempted to ensure secrecy while preventing Cardinals from voting for themselves, compensating for this change by raising the requisite majority from two-thirds to two thirds plus one.
Liturgy reforms
In his encyclical Mediator Dei, Pius XII links liturgy with the last will of Jesus Christ.
The Church has, therefore, according to Pius XII, a common aim with Christ himself, teaching all men the truth, and, offering to God 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, convey and dispense divine grace from Christ to the members of the Mystical Body.
The numerous Liturgy reforms of Pius XII show two characteristics. Renewal and the rediscovery of old liturgical traditions, such as the reintroduction of the Easter Vigil, and, a more structured atmosphere within the Church buildings. The use of vernacular language, favoured by Pius XII, was hotly debated at his time. He increased non-Latin services, especially in countries with expanding Catholic mission activities. The location of the Blessed Sacrament within the Church was to be always at the main altar in the centre of the Church. The Church should display religious objects, but not be overloaded with secondary objects or even Kitsch. Modern sacred art should be reverential and reflect the spirit of our time. Priests are permitted to officiate marriages without Holy Mass. They also may also officiate confirmations in certain instances.
Canon Law Reforms
Decentralized authority and increased the independence of the United Churches were aimed at in the Canon Law/Corpis 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 the mystical body of Christ, as explained in the encyclical Mystici Corporis.
Priests and Religious
With the Apostolic constitution Sedis Sapientiae, Pius XII added social sciences, sociology, psychology and social psychology, to the pastoral training of future priests. Pius XII emphasised the need to systematically analyze the psychological condition of candidates to the priesthood to ensure that they are capable of a life of virginity and service. Pius XII added one year to the theological formation of future priests. He also included a "pastoral year", an introduction into the practice of Parish work. The call to constant interior reform and Christian heroism is a central part of the message of Pius XII to all Religious. This means to be above average, to be a living example of Christian virtue. As the secular world has fallen back into Hedonism, the Catholic alternative is the sanctification especially of Priests and Religious. The strict norms governing their lives are meant to make them models of Christian perfection for lay people, he writes in Menti Nostrae. Bishops are encouraged to look at model saints like Boniface, and Pope Pius X. Priests were encouraged to be living examples of the love of Christ and his sacrifice.
Theological orientation
The encyclical, Divino Afflante Spiritu, published in 1943 emphasized the role of the bible. Pius XII freed biblical research from previous limitations. He encouraged Christian theologians to revisit original versions of the Bible in Greek and Hebrew. Noting improvements in archaeology, the encyclical reversed Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, which had only advocated going back to the original texts to resolve ambiguity in the Latin Vulgate. The encyclical demands a much better understanding of ancient Jewish history and traditions. It requires bishops throughout the Church to initiate biblical studies for lay people. The Pontiff also requests a reorientation of Catholic teaching and education, relying much more on sacred scriptures in sermons and religious instruction.
Mariology and the Dogma of the Assumption
As a young boy and in later life, Pacelli was an ardent follower of the Virgin Mary. He was consecrated as a bishop on May 13, 1917, the very day Our Lady of Fatima is believed to have first appeared. He consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1942, in accordance with the second "secret" of Our Lady of Fatima (His remains were to be buried in the crypt of Saint Peter Basilica on the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, October 13, 1958).
On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the assumption:
The dogma of the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary, is the crowning of the theology of Pius XII. In this dogmatic statement, the phrase "having completed the course of her earthly life," leaves open the question of whether the Virgin Mary died before her Assumption, or, whether she was assumed before death; both possibilities are allowed. Mary's Assumption was a divine gift to Mary as Mother of God. As Mary completed her race as a shining example to the human race, the perspective of the gift of assumption is offered to the whole human race.
The dogma was preceded by the 1946 encyclical Deiparae Virginis Mariae, which requested all Catholic bishops to express their opinion on a possible dogmatization. On September 8, 1953, the encyclical Fulgens corona announced a Marian year for 1954, the centennial of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. In the encyclical Ad caeli reginam he promulagated the feast, Queenship of Mary. Mystici Corporis summarizes his mariology.
Social teachings
Pius XII delivered numerous speeches to medical professionals and researchers. He addressed doctors, nurses, midwives, to detail all aspects of rights and dignity of patients, medical responsibilities, moral implications of psychological illnesses and the uses of psycho pharmaca. He also took on issues like the uses of medicine in terminally ill persons, medical lies in face of grave illness, and the rights of family members to make decisions against expert medical advice. Pope Pius XII often reconsidered previously accepted truth, thus he was first to determine that the use of pain medicine in terminally ill patients is justified, even if this may shorten the life of the patient, as long as life shortening is not the objective itself.
Pope Pius XII developed an extensive theology of the family, taking issue with family roles, sharing of household duties, education of children, conflict resolution, financial dilemmas, psychological problems, illness, taking care of older generations, unemployment, marital holiness and virtue, common prayer, religious discussions and more. Within the overall divine purpose of family life, he fully accepted the rhythm method as a moral form of family planning, although only limited circumstances, within the context of family.
To Pius XII, science and religion were heavenly sisters, different manifestations of divine exactness, who could not possibly contradict each other over the long term Regarding their relation, his advisor Professor Robert Leiber wrote: "Pius XII was very careful not to close any doors prematurely. He was energetic on this point and regretted that in the case of Galileo."
In 1950, Pius XII promulgated Humani Generis which acknowledged that evolution might accurately describe the biological origins of human life, but at the same time criticized those who use it as a religion, who "imprudently and indiscreetly hold that evolution... explains the origin of all things". Catholics must believe, that the human soul was created immediately by God. Since the soul is a spiritual substance it is not brought into being through transformation of matter, but directly by God, whence the special uniqueness of each person.." fifty years later, Pope John Paul II, stating that scientic evidence now seemed to favour the evolutionary theory, upheld the distinction of Pius XII regarding the human soul."Even if the human body originates from pre-existent living matter, the spiritual soul is spontaneously created by God."
Encyclicals, writings and speeches
Pius XII issued 41 encyclicals during his pontificate, - more than all his successors in the past fifty years taken together - along with many other writings and speeches. The pontificate of Pius XII was the first in Vatican history, which published papal speeches and addresses in vernacular language on a systematic basis. Until then, papal documents were issued mainly in Latin in Acta Apostolicae Sedis since 1909. Because of the novelty of it all, and a feared occupation of the Vatican by the German Wehrmacht, not all documents exist today. In 1944, a number of papal documents were burned or “walled in”, to avoid detection by the advancing German army. Insisting that all publications must be reviewed by him on a prior basis to avoid any misunderstanding, several speeches by Pius XII, who did not find sufficient time, were never published or appeared only once issued in the Vatican daily, Osservatore Romano.
Several encyclicals addressed the Oriental Churches. Orientalis Ecclesiae was issued in 1944 on the 15th centenary of the death of Cyril of Alexandria, a saint common to Orthodox and Latin Churches. Pius XII asks for prayer for better understanding and unification of the Churches. Orientales Omnes, issued in 1945 on the 350th anniversary of the reunion, is a call to continued unity of the Ruthenian Church, threatened in its very existence by the authorities of the Soviet Union. Sempiternus Rex was issued in 1951 on the 1500th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. It included a call to oriental communities adhering to monophysitism to return to the Catholic Church.
Feasts and devotions
In 1958, Pope Pius XII declared the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) for all Roman Catholics. The first medal of the Holy Face of Jesus, produced by Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli based on the image on the Shroud of Turin had been offered to Pius XII who approved of the medal and the devotion based on it. The general devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus had been approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885 before the image on the Turin Shroud had been photographed.
Canonizations and beatifications
Pope Pius XII canonized numerous saints, including Pope Pius X and Maria Goretti. He beatified Pope Innocent XI. The first canonizations were two women, the founder of a female order, Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, and a young housekeeper said to have stigmata, Gemma Galgani. Pelletier had a reputation for opening new ways for Catholic charities, helping people in difficulties with the law, who had been neglected by the system and the Church. Galgani was a rather young woman in her twenties whose virtue became model by her canonization. -->
Β΄ Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος
Το ποντιφικάτο του Πίου ΙΒ΄ ξεκίνησε τις παραμονές του Β΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Στην εγκύκλιο του 1937 «Mit brennender Sorge», που προσχεδίασε ο Πίος όταν ήταν ακόμα καρδινάλιος, ο Πάπας Πίος ΙΑ΄ προειδοποίησε τους Καθολικούς ότι ο αντισημιτισμός είναι ασυμβίβαστος με τον Χριστιανισμό. Η εγκύκλιος, που διαβάστηκε από άμβωνος σε όλες τις Καθολικές εκκλησίες της Γερμανίας, περιέγραφε τον Χίτλερ ως παράφρονα και αλαζόνα προφήτη, ενώ ήταν η πρώτη επίσημη δημόσια καταδίκη του Ναζισμού από οποιονδήποτε μείζονα οργανισμό. Ο Ναζιστικός διωγμός εναντίον της Εκκλησίας στη Γερμανία από το σημείο αυτό και μετά άρχισε να γίνεται «απροσχημάτιστη καταπίεση» και «σκηνοθετούνταν διώξεις μοναχών για ομοφυλοφιλία, με τη μέγιστη δυνατή δημοσιότητα ». Όταν Ολλανδοί επίσκοποι διαδήλωσαν ενάντια στον εκτοπισμό των Εβραίων, οι Ναζί απάντησαν με ακόμα πιο αυστηρά μέτρα. Στην Πολωνία οι Ναζί δολοφόνησαν πάνω από 2.500 μοναχούς και ιερείς, ενώ ακόμα περισσότεροι στάλθηκαν σε στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης. Το «Priester-Block» (πτέρυγα των ιερέων) στο Νταχάου είχε 2.600 Ρωμαιοκαθολικούς ιερείς. Κατά τη διάρκεια του πολέμου, ο Πάπας τήρησε πολιτική ουδετερότητας, ακολουθώντας το παράδειγμα της στάσης του Πάπα Βενέδικτου ΙΕ΄ κατά τον Α΄ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο. Το 1939 ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ μετέτρεψε το Βατικανό σε κέντρο βοήθειας, το οποίο οργάνωνε από διάφορα μέρη του κόσμου. Κατόπιν αιτήματος του Πάπα, λειτούργησε στο Βατικανό ένα γραφείο πληροφοριών για αιχμάλωτους πολέμου και πρόσφυγες υπό τον Τζιοβάνι Μπατίστα Μοντίνι, το οποίο στα χρόνια της ύπαρξής του, από το 1939 ως το 1947, δέχτηκε σχεδόν δέκα εκατομμύρια (9.891.497) αιτήσεις για πληροφορίες και παρήγαγε πάνω από έντεκα εκατομμύρια (11.293.511) απαντήσεις σχετικά με αγνοούμενα άτομα.
Τον Απρίλιο του 1939, κατόπιν αιτήσεως του Σαρλ Μωρράς και διαμεσολάβησης του Carmel of Lisieux, ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ ήρε την απαγόρευση του προκατόχου του από το Action Française, έναν οργανισμό που περιγράφεται από κάποιους συγγραφείς ως λυσσαλέα αντισημιτικό και αντικομμουνιστικό.
Το 1939 ο Πάπας προσέλαβε τον Εβραίο χαρτογράφο Ρομπέρτο Αλμάτζια για να δουλέψει στους παλιούς χάρτες της βιβλιοθήκης του Βατικανού. Ο Αλμάτζια ήταν στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Ρώμης από το 1915, αλλά απολύθηκε μετά τη θέσπιση των αντιεβραικών νόμων του Μουσολίνι το 1938. Ο διορισμός δύο Εβραίων στην Ακαδημία Επιστημών του Βατικανού, καθώς και η πρόσληψη του Αλμάτζια αναφέρθηκαν από τους New York Times στις εκδόσεις της 11ης Νοεμβρίου 1939 και 10η Ιανουαρίου 1940.
right|250px|thumb|Κατά το ξέσπασμα του [[Β΄ Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος|Β΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου μία Γαλλίδα καλόγρια ζωγράφισε αυτό το πορτραίτο του Πάπα Πίου ΙΒ΄.]]
Κατά τη διάρκεια των Σοβιετικών εχθροπραξιών ενάντια στη Φινλανδία, ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ καταδίκασε τη Σοβιετική επίθεση στις 26 Δεκεμβρίου 1939 σε μια ομιλία του στο Βατικανό. Later he donated a signed and sealed prayer on behalf of Finland.
Στην πρώτη του εγκύκλιο Summi Pontificatus (20 Οκτωβρίου 1939) ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ καταδίκασε δημόσια την εισβολή, την κατοχή και τον διαμελισμό της Πολωνίας σύμφωνα με το γερμανοσοβιετικό Σύμφωνο μη επίθεσης.
Το περιοδικό Time αναφέρει ότι η Γαλλία και η Βρετανία εξεπλάγησαν ευχάριστα από την εγκύκλιο.
Μετά την εισβολή της Γερμανίας στις Κάτω Χώρες το 1940, ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ έστειλε τη συμπάθειά του στη Βασίλισσα της Ολλανδίας, τον Βασιλιά του Βελγίου και τη Μεγάλη Δούκισσα του Λουξεμβούργου. Όταν ο Μουσολίνι έμαθε για τα διαβήματα και τα τηλεγραφήματα συμπάθειας τα θεώρησε προσωπική προσβολή και έβαλε τον πρέσβη του στο Βατικανό να υποβάλλει επίσημη διαμαρτυρία, καταγγέλλοντας ότι ο Πίος ΙΒ΄είχε τεθεί ενάντια στη σύμμαχο της Ιταλίας, Γερμανία. Ο Υπουργός Εξωτερικών του Μουσολίνι ισχυρίστηκε ότι ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ ήταν «έτοιμος να επιτρέψει να εκτοπιστεί σε στρατόπεδο συγκέντρωσης, παρά να κάνει κάτι ενάντια στην συνείδησή του.»
Την άνοιξη του 1940, μία ομάδα Γερμανών στρατηγών που αποσκοπούσαν να ανατρέψουν τον Χίτλερ και να συνάψουν ειρήνη με τους Βρετανούς πλησίασε τον Πίο ΙΒ΄, ο οποίος έπαιξε τον ρόλο του διαμεσολαβητή μεταξύ των Βρετανών και της αποτυχημένης συνωμοσίας.
Τον Απρίλιο του 1941 ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ παραχώρησε ιδιωτική ακρόαση στον Άντε Πάβελιτς, ηγέτη του νεοσύστατου Κροατικού Κράτους (ενώ ο Πάβελιτς είχε ζητήσει διπλωματική ακρόαση). Ο Πίος δέχθηκε κριτική για την υποδοχή του Πάβελιτς. Ένα μνημόνιο του Βρετανικού Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών, αγνώστου συγγραφέα, περιγράφει τον Πίο σαν «τον μεγαλύτερο ηθικώς δειλό άνθρωπο της εποχής μας .» Το Βατικανό δεν αναγνώρισε ποτέ επίσημα το καθεστώς του Πάβελιτς. Ο Πίος ποτέ δεν καταδίκασε επίσημα τις διώξεις και τις δια της βίας προσηλυτίσεις Σέρβων στον Καθολικισμό που έγιναν από τον Πάβελιτς, όμως αποκήρυξε κατηγορηματικά τους βίαιους προσηλυτισμούς σε ένα μνημόνιο της 25ης Ιανουαρίου 1942, από το «Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών» του Βατικανού προς τη Γιουγκοσλαβική διπλωματική αντιπροσωπεία.
Το 1941 ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ ερμήνευσε το Divini Redemptoris, μία εγκύκλιο του Πάπα Πίου ΙΑ΄ η οποία απαγόρευε στους Καθολικούς να βοηθάνε κομμουνιστές, ώστε να μην έχει εφαρμογή στη στρατιωτική βοήθεια προς τη Σοβιετική Ένωση. Η ερμηνεία κατεύνασε του Αμερικάνους καθολικούς, οι οποίοι είχαν αντιταχθεί στην εφαρμογή του Νόμου Εκμισθώσεως και Δανεισμού και για τη Σοβιετική Ένωση.
Τον Μάρτιο του 1942 ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ σύναψε διπλωματικές σχέσεις με την Ιαπωνική Αυτοκρατορία και δέχτηκε πρέσβη τον Κεν Χαράντα, ο οποίος παρέμεινε στη θέση αυτή μέχρι το τέλος του πολέμου. Τον Μάιο του 1942 ο Kazimierz Papée, Πολωνός πρέσβης στο Βατικανό, παραπονέθηκε ότι ο Πίος δεν καταδίκασε το νέο κύμα ωμοτήτων στην Πολωνία. Όταν ο Καρδινάλιος Γραμματέας του Κράτους Maglione, απάντησε ότι το Βατικανό δεν μπορεί να τεκμηριώσει μεμονωμένες ωμότητες, ο Papée δήλωσε «όταν κάτι γίνεται διαβόητο, δεν απαιτείται απόδειξη.»
Οι διάσημες χριστουγεννιάτικες εκπομπές του Πίου ΙΒ΄ στο Ραδιόφωνο του Βατικανού έγιναν το 1941 και το 1942 (η τελευταία από τις οποίες ήταν 26 σελίδες με πάνω από 5000 λέξεις και κράτησε πάνω από 45 λεπτά) παραμένουν «lightning rod» στη διαμάχη για τη στάση του Πάπα Πίου ΙΒ΄ κατά τη διάρκεια του πολέμου, και ιδιαίτερα του Ολοκαυτώματος. Στην εκπομπή των Χριστουγέννων του 1941 έκανε έκκληση για μία νέα παγκόσμια τάξη που να χαρακτηρίζεται από χριστιανική ειρήνη. Το μεγαλύτερο μέρος της ομιλίας του 1942 είχε να κάνει γενικά με τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα και την πολιτισμένη κοινωνία. Στο τέλος της ομιλίας ο Πίος φαίνεται να στρέφεται στα τρέχοντα γεγονότα, αν και όχι συγκεκριμένα, αναφερόμενος σε «όλους όσοι κατά τη διάρκεια του πολέμου έχασαν την πατρίδα τους και οι οποίοι αν και προσωπικά αθώοι, σκοτώθηκαν ή εξέπεσαν σε έσχατη ένδεια εξαιτίας απλώς της εθνικότητας και της καταγωγής τους» Το εντιτόριαλ της New York Times τον αποκάλεσε «μοναχική φωνή στη σιωπή και το σκοτάδι που καλύπτει την Ευρώπη αυτά τα Χριστούγεννα» and "lonely voice crying out of the silence of a continent" in 1942.
Στις 27 Δεκεμβρίου 1942 το παράρτημα της Πράγας του RSHA ανέφερε τα παρακάτω για τη χριστουγεννιάτικη ανακοίνωση, και δίνει την εικόνα του πώς την ερμήνευσαν οι αξιωματούχοι της Ναζιστικής Γερμανίας:
Το Ολοκαύτωμα
Ο Καρδινάλιος Γραμματέας του Κράτους, Λουίτζι Μαλιόνε, δέχθηκε την παράκληση του Αρχιραββίνου της Παλαιστίνης, Γιτζάκ Χέρτζογκ, την άνοιξη του 1940 να μεσολαβήσει εκ μέρους των Εβραίων της Λιθουανίας για την επικείμενη εκτόπισή τους στη Γερμανία. Ο Πίος κάλεσε τον Ρίμπεντροπ στις 11 Μαρτίου, διαμαρτυρόμενος επανειλημένως για τη μεταχείριση των Εβραίων. Στην εγκύκλιό του 1940, Summi Pontificatus, ο Πίος απέρριψε τον αντισημιτισμό, δηλώνοντας στην Καθολική Εκκλησία «.» Το 1940 ο Πίος ζήτησε από τον κλήρο, με επιστολόχαρτα του Βατικανού, να κάνουν ότι μπορούν εκ μέρος των νεκρών Εβραίων.
Το 1941 ο Καρδινάλιος της Βιέννης Τέοντορ Ίνιτζερ πληροφόρησε τον Πίο για τις εκτοπίσεις των Εβραίων από τη Βιέννη. Αργότερα στον ίδιο χρόνο, όταν ρωτήθηκε από τον Γάλλο Στρατάρχη Φιλίπ Πεταίν για το αν το Βατικανό αποδοκίμαζε τους αντιεβραϊκούς νόμους, ο Πίος απάντησε ότι η εκκλησία καταδικάζει τον αντισημιτισμό αλλά δεν σχολιάζει συγκεκριμένους νόμους. Παρομοίως όταν η κυβέρνηση μαριονέτα του Πεταίν υιοθέτησε τους «Εβραϊκούς νόμους», ειπώθηκε στον πρέσβη της Κυβέρνησης του Βισύ στο Βατικανό, Léon Bérard ότι η νομοθεσία δεν αντέφασκε με τις διδασκαλίες της Καθολικής Εκκλησίας. Ο νούντσιος στη Γαλλία, Βαλέριο Βαλέρι, «ήρθε σε δύσκολη θέση» όταν το πληροφορήθηκε δημοσίως από τον Πεταίν και διασταύρωσε προσωπικά την πληροφορία με τον Καρδινάλιο Γραμματέα του Κράτους Μαλιόνε, ο οποίος και του την επιβεβαίωσε. Εντούτοις τον Ιούνιο του 1942 ο Πίος διαμαρτυρήθηκε προσωπικά για τις μαζικές εκτοπίσεις των Εβραίων από τη Γαλλία, δίνοντας εντολή στον παπικό νούντσιο να διαμαρτυρηθεί στον Στρατάρχη Πεταίν για τις «απάνθρωπες συλλήψεις και εκτοπίσεις των Εβραίων.» Τον Σεπτέμβριο του 1941 ο Πίος ήταν αντίθετος με ένα Σλοβάκικο Νόμο για του Εβραίους, ο οποίος εν αντιθέσει με τους προηγούμενους νόμους του Βισύ, απαγόρευε τους γάμους μεταξύ Εβραίων και μη Εβραίων. Τον Οκτώβριο του 1941 όταν ο Χάρολντ Τίτμαν, Αμερικανός απεσταλμένος στο Βατικανό, ζήτησε από τον πάπα να καταδικάσει τις ωμότητες κατά των Εβραίων, Ο Πίος απάντησε ότι το Βατικανό επιθυμούσε να παραμείνει «ουδέτερο», επαναλαμβάνοντας την πολιτική ουδετερότητας που είχε επικαλεστεί τον Σεπτέμβριο του 1940.
Το 1942 ο διπλωματικός επιτετραμμένος της Σλοβακίας ενημέρωσε τον Πίο ότι Εβραίοι της Σλοβακίας στέλνονταν σε στρατόπεδα συγκέντρωσης. Στις 11 Μαρτίου 1942, λίγες μέρες πριν ξεκινήσουν οι μεταφορές, ο επιτετραμμένος στην Μπρατισλάβα ανέφερε στο Βατικανό: «Με έχουν διαβεβαιώσει ότι το απάνθρωπο σχέδιο είναι δουλειά του... Πρωθυπουργού Τούκα, ο οποίος ενέκρινε το σχέδιο... τόλμησε να μου πει - αυτό που τόσο επιδεικνύει τον Καθολικισμό του - ότι δεν βρίσκει τίποτα το απάνθρωπο ή το αντιχριστιανικό στο σχέδιο... η εκτόπιση 80,000 ατόμων στην Πολωνία είναι σαν να καταδικάζει το μεγαλύτερο μέρος τους σε σίγουρο θάνατο.» Το Βατικανό διαμαρτυρήθηκε στη Σλοβάκικη κυβέρνηση λέγοντας ότι «καταδικάζει αυτά... τα μέτρα τα οποία πλήτουν τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα εξαιτίας μόνο της φυλής τους.»
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Προσωρινό
On September 18, 1942, Pius received a letter from Monsignor Montini (future Pope Paul VI), saying, "the massacres of the Jews reach frightening proportions and forms." Later that month, Myron Taylor, U.S. representative to the Vatican, warned Pius that the Vatican's "moral prestige" was being injured by silence on European atrocities — a warning which was echoed simultaneously by representatives from Great Britain, Brazil, Uruguay, Belgium, and Poland — the Cardinal Secretary of State replied that the rumors about genocide could not be verified. In December 1942, when Tittman asked Cardinal Secretary of State Maglione if Pius would issue a proclamation similar to the Allied declaration "German Policy of Extermination of the Jewish Race", Maglione replied that the Vatican was "unable to denounce publicly particular atrocities." Pius XII directly explained to Tittman that he could not name the Nazis without at the same time mentioning the Bolsheviks. Pius XII also never publicly condemned the Nazi massacre of 1.8 - 1.9 million mainly Catholic Polish gentiles (including 2,935 members of the Catholic Clergy), nor did he ever publicly condemn the Soviet Union for the deaths of 1,000,000 mainly Catholic Polish gentile citizens including an untold number of clergy. In late 1942, Pius XII advised German and Hungarian bishops that speaking out against the massacres in the eastern front would be politically advantageous. In his 1942 Christmas Eve message, he expressed strong concern for "those hundreds of thousands, who ... sometimes only by reason of their nationality or race, are marked down for death or progressive extinction. On April 7, 1943, Msgr. Tardini, one of Pius’s closest advisors, told Pius that it would be politically advantageous after the war to take steps to help Slovakian Jews.
In January 1943, Pius declined to publicly denounce the Nazi violence against Jews, following requests to do so from Władysław Raczkiewicz, president of the Polish government-in-exile, and Bishop Konrad von Preysing of Berlin. On September 26, 1943, following the German occupation of northern Italy, Nazi officials gave Jewish leaders in Rome 36 hours to produce 50 kilograms of gold (or the equivalent) threatening to take 300 hostages. Then Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli recounts in his memoir, that he was selected to go to the Vatican and seek help. The Vatican offered to loan 15 kilos, but the offer proved unnecessary when the Jews received an extension. Soon afterward, when deportations from Italy were imminent, 477 Jews were hidden in the Vatican itself and another 4,238 were protected in Roman monasteries and convents. 80% of Roman Jews were saved from deportation.
On April 30, 1943, Pius wrote to Bishop Von Preysing of Berlin to say: "We give to the pastors who are working on the local level the duty of determining if and to what degree the danger of reprisals and of various forms of oppression occasioned by episcopal declarations... ad maiora mala vitanda (to avoid worse)... seem to advise caution. Here lies one of the reasons, why We impose self-restraint on Ourselves in our speeches; the experience, that we made in 1942 with papal addresses, which We authorized to be forwarded to the Believers, justifies our opinion, as far as We see.... The Holy See has done whatever was in its power, with charitable, financial and moral assistance. To say nothing of the substantial sums which we spent in American money for the fares of immigrants." On October 28, 1943, Ernst von Weizsäcker, the German Ambassador to the Vatican, telegrammed Berlin that "...the Pope has not yet let himself be persuaded to make an official condemnation of the deportation of the Roman Jews.... Since it is currently thought that the Germans will take no further steps against the Jews in Rome, the question of our relations with the Vatican may be considered closed."
In March 1944, through the papal nuncio in Budapest, Angelo Rotta, the pope urged the Hungarian government to moderate its treatment of the Jews. The pope also ordered Rotta and other papal legates to hide and shelter Jews. These protests, along with others from the King of Sweden, the International Red Cross, the United States, and Britain led to the cessation of deportations on 8 July, 1944. Also in 1944, Pius appealed to 13 Latin American governments to accept "emergency passports", although it also took the intervention of the U.S. State Department for those countries to honor the documents.
When the church transferred 6,000 Jewish children in Bulgaria to Palestine, Cardinal Secretary of State Maglione reiterated that the Holy See was not a supporter of Zionism.
In August 2006 extracts from the 60-year-old diary of a nun of the Convent of Santi Quattro Coronati were published in the Italian press, stating that Pope Pius XII ordered Rome's convents and monasteries to hide Jews during the Second World War. -->
Μετά τον Β΄ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο
Μετά το τέλος το Β΄ Παγκοσμίου πολέμου, ο Πιός ΙΒ΄ επικεντρώθηκε στην υλική βοήθεια της καταπονημένης από τον πόλεμο Ευρώπης, στην εσωτερική διεθνοποίηση της Ρωμαιοκαθολικής εκκλησίας, και στην ανάπτυξη των διεθνών διπλωματικών της σχέσεων. Οι εγκύκλιοί του, Evangelii Praecones και Fidei Donum, που εκδόθηκαν στις 2 Ιουνίου του 1951 και στις 21 Απριλίου του 1957 αντίστοιχα, αύξησαν τον βαθμό της αυτοδιοίκησης των Καθολικών ιεραποστολών, πολλές από τις οποίες έγιναν αυτόνομες επισκοπές. Ο Πίος ΙΒ΄ απαίτησε την αναγνώριση των τοπικών πολιτιστικών παραδόσεων ως πλήρως ισάξιων με την Ευρωπαϊκή. Ακολουθώντας την πολιτική των προκατόχων του, υποστήριξε την εγκαθίδρυση τοπικής διοίκησης στα Εκκλησιαστικά θέματα, έτσι το 1950 η ιεραρχία της Δυτικής Αφρικής έγινε ανεξάρτητη και ακολούθησαν το 1951 της Νοτίου Αφρικής και το 1952 της Βρετανικής Ανατολικής Αφρικής. Η Φινλανδία, η Βιρμανία και η Γαλλική Αφρική έγιναν ανεξάρτητες επισκοπές το 1955.
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While the Church thrived in the West and most of the developing world, it faced most serious persecutions in the East. The Communist regimes in Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania practically eradicated the Roman Catholic Church in their countries.
The difficult relations of the Vatican with the Soviet Union, alias Russia, originated in the revolution in 1917 and continued through the pontificate of Pius XII. They affected relations with the Orthodox Church as well. The Catholic Oriental Churches were eliminated in most parts of the Soviet Union during the Stalinist era. Persecutions of the Church continued during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII.
The relations of the Holy See with China from 1939-1958. began hopefully with the long withheld recognition of Chinese rites by the Vatican in 1939, the elevation of he first Chinese cardinal in 1946, and the establishment of a local Chinese hierarchy. It ended with the persecution and virtual elimination of the Catholic Church in the early Fifties, and the establishment of a Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association in 1957
In 2005, Corriere della Sera published a document dated 20 November, 1946 on the subject of Jewish children baptized in war-time France. The document ordered that baptized children, if orphaned, should be kept in Catholic custody and stated that the decision "has been approved by the Holy Father". Nuncio Angelo Roncalli (who would become Pope John XXIII, and be recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations) ignored this directive. Abe Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), who had himself been baptized as a child and had undergone a custody battle afterwards, called for an immediate freeze on Pius's beatification process until the relevant Vatican Secret Archives and baptismal records were opened. Two Italian scholars, Matteo Luigi Napolitano and Andrea Tornielli, confirmed that the memorandum was genuine although the reporting by the Corriere della Sera was misleading, as the document had originated in the French Catholic Church archives rather than the Vatican archives and strictly concerned itself with children without living blood relatives that were supposed to be handed over to Jewish organisations.
Late years of Pope Pius XII
The last years of the pontificate of Pius XII began in late 1954 with a long illness, during which he considered abdication. Afterwards, changes in his work habit became noticeable. The Pope avoided long ceremonies, canonizations and consistories and displayed hesitancy in personnel matters. During the last years of the pontificate, Pius XII procrastinated personnel decisions within his Vatican, and found it increasingly difficult to chastise subordinates and appointees such as Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, who, after numerous indiscretions was excluded from Papal service for the last years, but, keeping his title, was able to enter the papal apartments to make photos of the dying Pope, which he sold to French magazines.
Pius XII often elevated young priests as bishops, such as Julius Döpfner (35 years) and Karol Wojtyla (38 years), one of his last appointees in 1958. He took a firm stand against pastoral experiments, such as "worker-priests", who worked full times in factories and joined political parties and unions. He continued to defend the theological tradition of Thomism as worthy of continued reform, and as superior to modern trends such as phenomenology or existentialism.
Illness and death of Pope Pius XII
Since his 1954 illness, Pope Pius addressed lay people and groups about an unprecedented range of topics. Frequently, he spoke to members of scientific congresses, explaining Christian teachings in light of most recent scientific results. Sometimes he answered specific moral questions, which were addressed to him. To professional associations he explained specific occupational ethics in light of Church teachings. Pius granted the Honor of Being the "Catholic University of The Philippines" to the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, the oldest existing in Asia.