Francesco Pacelli
Encyclopedia
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
was born in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on February 1, 1872. He died in Rome on April 22, 1935. He was a prominent Vatican lawyer, who was appointed legal advisor of Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
In this role he was instrumental in negotiating the Lateran Treaty for Pope Pius XI on behalf of Cardinal Secretary Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri was a Roman Catholic archbishop, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and signatory of the Lateran Pacts.- Biography :...
.
Background
Francesco was in 1872 born into a family, which for most of the 19th century, was in service to the Holy SeeHoly See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. The Pacelli family had a long tradition of legal training. His grandfather, Marcantonio Pacelli, had been minister of finance for Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
and deputy minister of interior under Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
from 1851 to 1870. He founded the L’Osservatore Romano on July 20, 1860. His father Filippo Pacelli, was a solicitor (lawyer) in the Congregation of the Sacred Rota.
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Sunday, April 2, 1899 by Bishop Francesco di Paola Cassetta
Francesco di Paola Cassetta
Francesco di Paola Cassetta was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council from 1914 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1899.-Biography:...
— the vice-regent of Rome and a family friend. After entering Vatican service, he was also chosen by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
to deliver condolences on behalf of the Vatican to Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
after the death of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. In 1908, he served as a Vatican representative on the International Eucharistic Congress
International Eucharistic Congress
In the Roman Catholic church, a Eucharistic Congress is a gathering of clergy, religious, and laity to bear witness to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which is an important Roman Catholic doctrine...
in London, where he met Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. In 1911, he represented the Holy See at the coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
appointed Pacelli as papal nuncio to Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
on April 23, 1917, consecrating him as titular Archbishop of Sardis
See of Sardis
The See of Sardis was an episcopal see in Sardis. It was one of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, held by metropolitan bishops since the middle to late 1st century, with jurisdiction over the province of Lydia...
in the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
on May 13, 1917, the very day, Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fátima is a famous title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as she appeared in apparitions reported by three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal. These occurred on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13...
is believed to have first appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Several years after he was appointed Nuncio to Germany, and after completion of a concordat with Bavaria, the nunciature was moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. June 23, 1920 and 1925 respectively.
Lateran Treaty
Francesco Pacelli was deanDean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of the lawyers of the Rota and legal advisor to Pope Pius XI. In this role, he was instrumental in negotiating this Lateran Treaty in 1929, which reaffirmed the independence of the Papacy with the formation of Vatican City as a souvern entity. Francesco Pacelli described in his Diario della Conciliazione details and difficulties of these negotiations from a Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
perspective. Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
and Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri was a Roman Catholic archbishop, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and signatory of the Lateran Pacts.- Biography :...
had entrusted to him the daily negotiations for the Lateran Treaty. Pacelli had over two-hundred protracted audiences with Pius XI over twenty different draft versions of the final treaty.
After long negotiations it consisted of thee parts, which were ratified June 7, 1929, ending the "Roman Question". They consisted of three documents: A political treaty recognizing the full sovereignty of the Holy See in the State of Vatican City, which was thereby established; a concordat regulating the position of the Catholic Church and the Catholic religion in the Italian state, and, a financial convention agreed on as a definitive settlement of the claims of the Holy See following the losses of its territories and property.Pius XI declared, that with the treaties negotiated by Pacelli "God had been given back to Italy and Italy to God" In gratitude for his efforts, the Pope bestowed on Francesco Pacelli the hereditary title of Marquis. The King of Italy posthumously gave him the title Prince.
Eugenio and Francesco Pacelli
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
and on 7 February 1930 appointed as Cardinal Secretary of State
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
succeeding his mentor and friend Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri
Pietro Gasparri was a Roman Catholic archbishop, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and signatory of the Lateran Pacts.- Biography :...
. Francesco Pacelli left the immediate Vatican service largely in light of concerns for his health problems. As he moved to Rome, Eugenio Pacelli stayed for several weeks in the house of his brother Francesco near the Vatican
Vatican Hill
Vatican Hill is the name given, long before the founding of Christianity, to one of the hills on the side of the Tiber opposite the traditional seven hills of Rome...
, because the Vatican quarters required renovations. Madre Pascalina described the athmosphere in the Pacelli home as plain but elegant. Francesco was the soul of the house, since his wife had died years earlier. Comparing the two brothers, the older Francesco Pacelli appeared to Madre Pascalina to be slightly more severe than the younger Eugenio Pacelli.
The two Pacelli brothers lived there together with the children of Francesco, Carlo, Giuseppe, a Jesuit who died shortly thereafter, Marcantonio and Giulio Pacelli. The household was in the hands of Carlo Pacelli's wife. Eugenio Pacelli lived in a small apartment within the house, which Francesco had reserved for him during his years in Germany and which he had used in previous years during his Rome visits. It consisted of two small rooms, and a chapel, where Francesco Pacelli and the family met every morning for Holy Mass and evenings for reciting the rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
.
Illness and death
The stress of daily negotiations over the decade old Roman QuestionRoman Question
thumb|300px|The breach of [[Porta Pia]], on the right, in a contemporaneous photograph.The Roman Question was a political dispute between the Italian Government and the Papacy from 1861 to 1929....
with the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
on behalf of the Holy See had effects on the health of Francesco Pacelli. He developed a progressive heart ailment which in the last years forced him to gradually reduce his work load, fully knowing the implications of his slow-down. "I attempted to serve God, his Holy Church and my family, he remarked shortly before his death. I trust, he will protect them and I hope to find a compassionate judge." Francesco Pacelli died in Rome on April 22, 1935, age sixty-three.