POPE’S CAREER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 53, 4 March 1939, Page 9

POPE’S CAREER

CLEVER DIPLOMATIST HUMBLE *ND MODEST MAN HIS WORK IN EUROPE Prophetically described two year ago as “Priest of Destiny,” Cardina Pacelli played an increasingly ini portant part in European affairs oh wards from 1917, when he was sen to Munich as Nuncio. He attractei the eyes of the world as the soul am inspirer of “the burning Papal cm sade against Communism” and th war waged by the Catholic Churci against the anti-Christian policy o Nazi Germany. The life and works of the nev Pontiff were reviewed by Arnald' Cortesi in an appreciation written ii Rome for the “New York Times two years ago. Notable among those who are play ing important roles at the Vaticai is Cardinal Pacelli, Cardinal Secretary of State, long a close friend of Popi Pius XI (he wrote). The diplomat!' service of the Vatican is a steri school. At the age of 60 Cardina Pacelli looks back on 37 years spen in that branch of the Holy See wnicl deals with foreign relations, and oi the last seven during which he ha heped to steer the ship of St. Pete through stormy seas. Cardinal Pacelli is all tire am energy, full of magnetism and driv ing force, possessed of the menta agility that the Italians like to thiol is typically Latin. He is an organise and knows when and how to taki others into his confidence and hov to make them work for him. Charm of .'Linner. The Cardinal's tail, slender figur and his lean face give him the appear ante of an ascetic and, though pos sessed of quite extraordinary chain of manner, he seems at first sigh aln\ost austere. The years hav made their mark on him, and hi dark hair is now turning grey. Du despite the appearance ot an ascetic the Cardinal is no cloistered monk He is an accomplished diplomatist, < man whom unexpected events neve find him unprepared, for his menta reactions are rapid. The man who was to become Popt entered the Holy Congregation io Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affair almost at the same moment as he en tered the church. Step by step hhas climbed to the top of the organ . ation until to-day he sits at th' ?sk, in the magnificant apartmen the Secretary of State in the Vati ,n. that 37 years seemed so far avvaj . hat he never dreamed he could rcaci it. His rise from the bottom run; of the Holy See’s diplomatic ladde has taken place mainly within th' four walls of a single office, for h never abandoned the Secretariat o State except to represent Benedic XV and Pius XI for twelve years ii Germany. Yet the Cardinal is any thing but a bureaucrat, for the Secrc tariat of State is an open windov through which the Holy See look out upon the whole world. Nature ha; endowed him, moreover, with a viva cious mind and a lively intellect

which have refused to become stiffjointed or grow old. Cardinal Pacelli has an ability to adapt himself to whatever tasks and conditions the changing fortunes of life may chance to throw in his way. At the” behest of Pope Benedict XV, he turned his back on a whole lifetime of work and endeavour in the Secretariat of State and at a moment's notice faced a Germany still resonant with the boom of guns and the tread of marching feet. He litteu into his new environment with the perfect ease and grace that have always distinguished him and rendered such valuable service to the church that he immediately became the logical choice for the arduous post of Cardinal Secretary of State. Visit to He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Munich in May, 1917, and one of his first tasks was to visit Emperor Wilhelm’s field headquaters and to deliver the peace note addressd by Benedict XV to all heads of belligerent States. This step having failed to halt the conflict that was bleeding Europe to death. Monsignor Pacelli dedicated himself heart and soul to organising the exchange of prisoners between the Central Powers and the Allies.

His diplomatic action was crowned by the concordat between the Holy See and Bavaria, the long and laborious negotiations for which were

] begun in 1920 and concluded only in • 1924. In June, 1925, he was transI ferred toeh Nunciature in Berlin and i here also he had the satisfaction of ; concluding a concordat —the one bei tween the Holy See and Prussia which was signed in 1929 after pro- | traded negotiations. | His stay in Munich gave him an opportunity to show that the many years spent in the peaceful atmosphere of the Vatican office had not impaired the heritage of courage that came to him from a long line of I militant ancestors. During the Kurt [Eisner interlude, the seat of the Nunciature was attacked one night and i machine-gun bullets came through | the windows. Monsignor Paceilia, | who was away at the time, made a [strong protest but a few days later i the Nunciature was actually invadea ’ by agroup of armed men, on the pre--1 text that some Monarchists were | hiding there. ' Monsignor Pacelli faced the at- | tackers, and though threatened with ' a revolver by one of the officers, [comported himself with a dignity and i resolution that commanded their re- ‘ spect and resulted in their abandonpng the turbulence in which they had ’at first indulged. No sooner had • the invaders left the Nunciature than • Monsignor Pacelli went in person to j register a protest, couched in such i vigorous terms that he secured an j immediate apology and a promise I that the diplomatic immunities would I never again be violated. Created Cardinal Pius XI recalled Mgr. Pacelli to Rome in 1929, and in the Consistory of December 16 of that year created him Cardinal, assigning to him the “title” of Sts. John and Paul, and informing him at the same time that he had been designated to assume the • grave responsibilities of Secretary of I State. It was not until the following (February, however, that Cardinal Facelli took charge of his new office, |on the withdrawal, owing to old age, of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri. ! During Cardinal Pacelli’s tenure of ' office, a concordat betewen the Holy See and Rumania was ratified and new concordats were concluded with Baden, Austria, the German Reich, and Yugoslavia, From his presence at the head of the Secretariat of State dates the strong stand that the Holy See has made against Communism —a stand that future historians will, per- ' haps, consider one of the most signifi- [ cant and decisive events in the presi ent-day policy of the Vatican. j Cardinal Pacelli’s rise to the highlest post in Vatican diplomacy did not turn his head, and he is to-day, as he I always has been, one- of the humblest ’and most modest men imaginable. He I is, in the best and finest sense of the |word, a true priest, and his personal i piety, his goodness, and his earnesti ness in the exercise of his priestly [duties are by-words in Rome. When Monsignor Pacelli heard that Pius XI had decided to create him Cardinal, he pleaded earnestly to have this honour removed from him, and even more strenuously did he protest when he was designated for the post of Secretary of State. His opinion of himself was so low that he said, with all sincerity, that he did not feel that he was worthy to direct the foreign policy of the Holy See.

Distinguished Family Cardinal Pacelli was born in Rome on March 2, 1876, and belongs to a family of the “black” nobility that holds” the titles of Nobles of Acquapendente and of Sant’ Angelo in Vado. It has always been known for its devotion to the Holy See. His grandfather, Marcantonio, was Under-Sec-retary of the Interior of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX from 1851 to 1870. when Rome became the capital of Italy and the Papal States ceased to exist. His father. Filippo, was Dean of the College of Consistorial Advocates and held a prominent place in the Catholic Party, the Unione Romana. The Cardinal’s only brother, Francesco, was made a marquis in 1929 by Pope Pius XI in recognition of the valuable service he rendered the Holy See in the negotiations for the conclusion of the Lateran Agreement, which re-established peace between Church and State in Italy after almost

half a century of estrangement. His three nephews, Carlo, Marcantonio-, and Giulio, are attorneys for the Vatican.

As a boy the new Pope attended a public school run by nuns in Rome, and later followed a course of classical studies in Government schools until he was ready to enter the university. At this point he took the most important decision of his whole life, and, with the consent of his family, entered the Gregorian University, which prepares young men for the priesthood. He acquitted himself so brilliantly

that, soon after his graduation in March. 1898, and his first Mass in the magnificent Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, he was taken into the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, which he was never to abandon. His fame as a scholar was such that, when he was appointed Professor of Canon Law in the Pontifical Institute of the Apollinare, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, who was at that time secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, and therefore his direct superior, insisted that he should resign the chair and dedicate himself exclusively to the duties of his office. Work on Canon Law Mgr. Pacelli was successively '“minutante,” under-secretary, and. pro-secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, and in 1914 was appointed by Pope Pius X secretary of the same congregation, replacing Cardinal Gasparri. He was confirmed in this post by Benedict XV, who had himself been Substitute Secretary of State, and had thus had ample opportunities to appreciate Pacelli’s unusual qualities. During the whole of this period he collaborated with Cardinal Pietro Gasparri in the gigantic work of the codification of canon law, a work on which Cardinal Gasparri’s reputation as a scholar rests, and for which a due part of the credit must be given to his gifted collaborator. On May 13, 1917, Benedict XV consecrated Mgr. Pacelli Titular Archbishop of Sardi in a special ceremony in the Sistine Chapel. Shortly afterwards the Pope sent him as Nuncio to Munich, thus initiating him in the active branch of the Holy See’s foreign service. The new Pope is considered not only a learned man, but one of the most effective orators and preachers in the Catholic Church. Besides classical Greek and Latin, he speaks six modern languages—ltalian, German, French. English, Spanish, and Portuguese. In the course of his career he has travelled extensively. In 1911 he formed part of the delegation headed by Cardinal Bonzano which represented Pope Pius X at the Coronation of King George V of England. In October, 1934, he was sent as Cardinal Legate to the International Eucharistic Congress in Buenos Aires. In April, 1935, he represented the Pope at the closing of the Holy Year of Redemption in the Sanctuary of Lourdes. In the latter half of 1936 he went on a private journey to the United States. His holidays have usually been spent in a religious house in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Constance. Filled with Dismay In spite of the fact that he was personally one of the most popular Cardinals and excelled among those whose mental capacities and training fitted them to carry the heavy burden of the Papacy, he doubted that he had the qualifications that fit a man to assume the supreme responsibility of directing the Catholic Church. The thought filled him with dismay. He comforted himself with the thought that the probabilities that the choice of the Cardinals might fall on him were, if precedent counted for anything, very slight, for only once in the whole history of the Papacy has a Cardinal Secretary of Slate been elected to the Throne of St. Peter, and that was in 1073 when the monk Hilderbrand became Pope Gregory VII.