Evening star., 1939-02-10
Stands Out as One
OF Most Forcefu|
Modern Pontiffs
Rewon Temporal Power
By Settlement Of Old
Roman Question

AS the Pope of the Cancellation"
who after two years OF negotiation
with the Italian government ended
the 59-year-old Roman question" and
regained temporal power, with rule
over the Vatican City State, Plus XII
stood out as one of the most forceful
pontiffs of modern times.
Elected head of the Roman Catholic
Church on February 6, 1922, he be-
came, seven years later, the first Pope
since Plus TX to reign as a temporal
as we'll as a spiritual sovereign. He
was the first pontiff in SO years to ex-
tend paternal greetings to the King,
Queen and princes Of united Italy.
And he was the first after 1870 to
leave the confines of the Vatican.
This last step, ending the prisoner
of the Vatican" habits of his prede-
cessors he took on July Is, 1929,
when he was borne in a gorgeous pro-
cession around st. Peters Square.
But more significant of the new free
dom was his trip Of December ~,
1929. Then, without previous an
nouncement, he motored across Rome
to st. John Lateran, mother church
of Christendom," there to celebrate
a half century of priesthood. Ihe
next day, before a cheering throng
which packed st. Peters, he cele-
brated the flftieth anniversary OF his
first mass.
Fame as "the saint maker" came
to Plus in the later years of his
tenure, for under his sovereignty
26 names were added to the roster
of men and women beatif1ed or
canonized.
Half of these were named within
the holy year" of 1933-34, espe-
cially ordained by the pontid to
celebrate the 1,90Oth anniversary OF
the passion, death and resurrection
of Christ. Promotion of world peace
and a return to prayer were the
specific aims of this observance.
Among the newly canonlzed that
year were Don John Bosco, Salesian
monk, whose educational work Is
revered throughout Latin America;
Joan of Arc, Thomas More, chan
cellor to Henry VIII of England,
and the French nun, Sister Therese
"of the little flower of Jesus" Three
Jesuits martyred in Colonial times
by Indians of the Parana region in
South America, Fathers Gonzales,
Rodriguez and Castillo, also passed
into the sacred fold of the church
along with men and women from
France, Great Britain, Canada,
Germany and Italy. Later causes
were initiated for the elevation of
several Americans to sainthood.
Holy Year Among
Pope's Happiest.
That 'holy year" was one of the
happiest of the declining years for
the aging pontiff With the world
seeking a way out of the economic
depression, he preached the theory
of prayer in the search for this
outlet. The IL months observance
conceded with the quinquennial
visits of most of the American
bishops to Rome and he heard with
delight their reports that the United
States seemed to be winning against
the depression and that the people
were turning to the church in num-
bers unknown during the great
boom times.
The pilgrimages to Rome that
year also soothed the spirit of Plus
although they tired him physically.
In the IL months he made more
than 200 addresses to 100000 pill
grims.
When war clouds began to dim
the international horizon almost
before the holy year" was finished,
he was quick to meet the challenge.
To thousands of devout gathered at
Lourdes, France, he radioed an i'm
passioned appeal for peace To the
college of cardinals, gathered for
Christmas ceremonies December II,
1884, he quoted peace on earth to
men of good WILL" then indirectly
warned statesmen that they must
temper political expediency with
desire for peace or he might be
forced to pray:
"Oh Lord, scatter those nations
who seek war"
But by Christmas of 1885 Plus sor-
rowfully admitted that the season
brought melancholy as we'll as usual
joys. He believed Italy was being eco
nomically ostracized by sister ma
tions as aggressor in the Italian
Ethiopian War and he admitted to
the cardinals that he had been ac-
cused of negligence in the search
for peace. But he maintained this
was an error, that his legates even
then were seeking means to end
the conflict. Records showed that
before the fighting started he
strongly urged a peaceful solution
of the East African problem and
that after the campaign started he
warned that final settlement must
be a peace with justice"
Political shifting in Spain with it's
stultifying effect upon negotiations
for modus vivendi between the
new republic there and the Vatican,
also worried the pontiff and he
spoke often of the trials of the
church in Russia, Mexico and Ger
many.
False Christianity
In Germany Assailed.
Nazi measures once caused him
to declare Indignantly that in Ger
many there existed false Chris
tianity and real paganism." The
German sterilization law was espe-
cially abhorrent to him. There was
steady opposition, too, from church
agencies to NaZi DEGREES which were
held to restrict freedom of worship,
preaching and the right of the
church to educate its children, all
of which were guaranteed to the
church in a concordat negotiated in
1888.
Reports of the growth of nudist
cults in various countries also
shocked the Pope.
But If war, nudity, paganism and
political siege against the church
saddened Plus, they in no way di-