Pope Benedict XVI Says Mass for Pius XII

(09 Oct 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI today offered Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose of the soul of his predecessor Pope Pius XII, who died a half-century ago on this day. Lydia O'Kane reports...

Pope Benedict XVI recalled Pope Pius XII as a man for whom sainthood was the ideal toward which he constantly strived, and remembered the great spirit of self-denial with which he lived through the terrible years of the Second World War.

Noting how his predecessor invites us to look to Mary’s glorious assumption to Heaven, the Holy Father prayed that the Cause for Pope Pius XII’s beatification reach a successful conclusion.

The highest authority in the Congregation responsible for these cases, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has given an extremely positive judgment on [Pius XII’s] heroic virtues.


Jesuit Fr. Peter Gumpel is the relator for the cause of Pius XII’s beatification…

What now is needed is the scientific demonstration that God has worked a miracle through the intercession of Pope Pius XII.


Pope Benedict also recalled the great efforts Pius made in behalf of the Jews during their awful suffering under Nazi and Fascist regimes.

He called to mind Pope Pius’ 1942 Christmas Message, in which his predecessor deplored, “the hundreds of thousands of persons who in that moment were being destined to death or gradual extinction, through no fault of their own, and sometimes only for reasons of nationality or race.”

Pope Benedict went on to remember how often his predecessor acted in secret and in silence, understanding as he did that this was the only way to avoid worsening their plight, the only way to save as many Jews as possible.

Unfounded accusations have been made in recent years regarding Pope Pius behaviour during the war years, and a conference was held recently in Rome to correct the historical record…

In many wasy, the Pope tried to assist the Jews, and he secretly instructed bishops and other Catholic religious leaders to shelter those in hiding and to help them in any manner possible.


Fr. Bernard O’Connor is a Vatican official who presented the work of the conference for Vatican Radio listeners…

Behind the scenes, Pope Pius worked tirelessly to aid the Jews. It is estimated that his efforts saved some 900 thousand of them, and after the war, many Jewish political and religious leaders praised him openly, and even came to Rome to express their gratitude.


The Holy Father recalled also how, when Pius died, many of the highest authorities of the Jewish world sent messages, especially the then-foreign minister of Israel, Golda Meir, who would go on to become Prime Minister: “When the most horrific martyrdom struck our people,” wrote Meir, “during the ten years of Nazi terror, the Pontiff raised his voice on behalf of the victims,” and concluded, saying, “we mourn a great servant of peace.”

I was in Rome at the time, and I remember now only the death – he died at Castel Gandolfo - My precious memory is, when people say that of course, he was not popular, the day, when his body was brought back, we joined a procession with all the seminarians. They said 2 million people lined the streets of Rome, and in those days, that was the entire population.


The Archbishop of Liverpool, Patrick Kelly, was in Rome when Pope Pius XII died. He remembers the emotion of learning the news of the Pope’s passing…

And we walked from the [Venerable English] College to St. John Lateran through the streets, we saw nobody. Everybody was [already] along the route. And I’ll always remember, on the Via Merulana, where we came down the hill, toward St. Mary Major, the street as we faced it was solid with people, in complete silence. He was loved, and I remember women in the streets, crying, and saying, “What happens now?”


Archbishop Kelly was one of the hundreds of bishops present for the Mass this Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica, which was offered for the repose of the soul of Pope Pius XII.