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Australia and the Popes

Pope Pius XII : 1939-1958

The Second World War brought immense suffering, uncertainty and controversy into the world. The Pope who became embroiled in all this controversy was Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (2 March 1876 – 9 October 9 1958) who took the name Pope Pius XII.

A second world war:

He was elected pope on 2nd March 1939 six months before the outbreak of the second world war of the Twentieth Century.

Pacelli was born into a noble family well-connected in Church circles. He was a grandson of Marcantonio Pacelli, founder of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, a nephew of Ernesto Pacelli, a key financial advisor to Pope Leo XII (1823–29), and a son of Filippo Pacelli, dean of the Vatican lawyers. His brother, Francesco Pacelli, became a highly regarded attorney, and was created a marchese by Pius XI.

A controversial pontificate:

Even to this day Pope Pius XII pontificate remains one of the most controversial of the twentieth century for two chief reasons: the first was his dealings with Adolf Hitler and how he responded to the threat posed by Nazism and, in particular, its treatment of the Jewish people and other minorities. Secondly it remains controversial in that the very conservative elements in the Church think Pope Pius XII was "the last true pope". We'll consider these two controversial aspects of his pontificate in more detail...

At the level of politics, statemanship and diplomacy there has been continuing controversy in the way he responded to Adolf Hitler particularly over the treatment of the Jewish people. A Google search will lead to many websites and articles on the internet giving an overview of both points of view in this controversy.

Continued on next page... >>

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The textual material on these pages was sourced from a large number of places all of which can be found through the links on each page. The material was researched, assembled and produced by Brian Coyne for Catholic Australia. The images used in the Flash animations are in the public domain. Other images used are in the public domain or sourced from the webpages to which they are linked.