22 January 1922
A.D. Benedict XV Dies—Rome’s 258th; Least Remembered Pontiff of 20th
Century; Doctorate in Law Then in
Theology; Archbishop of Bologna; Overshadowed by WW1; Emerging Persecutions in Russia; Issues 12
Encyclicals
Pope Benedict XV
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Pope
Benedict XV
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Portrait in 1915
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Papacy began
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3 September 1914
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Papacy ended
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22 January 1922
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Predecessor
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Successor
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Orders
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Ordination
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Consecration
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Created Cardinal
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Personal details
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Birth name
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Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista Della Chiesa
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Born
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Died
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Previous post
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Motto
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In Te Domine Speravi, Non Confundar In
Aeternum
(In thee, o Lord, have I trusted: let me not be confounded for evermore Psalm
71:1) [2]
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Signature
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Coat of arms
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Ordination history of
Pope Benedict XV
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Priestly ordination
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Ordained by
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Date of ordination
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21 December 1878
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Episcopal consecration
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Principal
consecrator
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Date of consecration
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22 December 1907
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Bishops consecrated by Pope Benedict XV as principal
consecrator
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21 June 1914
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6 January 1917
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13 May 1917
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19 May 1918
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25 January 1921
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5 May 1921
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8 January 1922
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Pope Benedict XV (Latin: Benedictus
XV; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni
Battista della Chiesa, was Pope from 3 September 1914 to his death in 1922. His pontificate was largely
overshadowed by World War I
and its political, social and humanitarian consequences in Europe.
Between 1846 and 1903, the Catholic Church had
experienced its two longest pontificates in history up to that point. Together Pius
IX and Leo
XIII ruled for a total of 57 years. In 1914, the College of
Cardinals chose della Chiesa at the young age of 59, indicating their desire
for another long-lasting pontificate at the outbreak of World
War I, which he labeled “the suicide of civilized Europe.”[3] The war and its consequences were the
main focus of Benedict XV. He immediately declared the neutrality of the Holy
See and attempted from that perspective to mediate peace in
1916 and 1917. Both sides rejected his initiatives. German Protestants rejected
any “Papal Peace” as insulting. The French politician Georges Clemenceau regarded the Vatican initiative as being anti-French.[4]
Having failed with diplomatic initiatives, Benedict XV
focused on humanitarian efforts to lessen the impacts of the war, such as
attending prisoners of war, the exchange of wounded soldiers and food
deliveries to needy populations in Europe. After the war, he repaired the
difficult relations with France, which re-established relations with the
Vatican in 1921. During his pontificate, relations with Italy improved as well,
as Benedict XV now permitted Catholic politicians led by Don Luigi
Sturzo to participate in national Italian politics.
In 1917, Benedict XV promulgated the Code of Canon Law which was released on May 27, the creation of which he had prepared with Pietro
Gasparri and Eugenio Pacelli during the pontificate of
Pope
Pius X. The new Code of Canon Law is considered to have
stimulated religious life and activities throughout the Church.[5] He named Pietro Gasparri to be his Cardinal Secretary of State and personally consecrated Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope
Pius XII) on 13 May 1917 as Archbishop. World War I caused great
damage to Catholic missions throughout the world. Benedict XV revitalized these
activities, asking in Maximum Illud for Catholics throughout the world
to participate. For that, he has been referred to as the "Pope of
Missions".
His last concern was the emerging persecution of the
Catholic Church in Soviet
Russia and the famine there after the revolution. Benedict XV was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and authorized the Feast of Mary, Mediator of all Graces.[6]
After seven years in office, Pope Benedict XV died on 22
January 1922 after battling pneumonia since the start of that month. He was
buried in the grottos of Saint Peter's Basilica. With his diplomatic skills and
his openness towards modern society, "he gained respect for himself and
the papacy."[5] To this day, he is possibly the least
remembered pontiff of the 20th century, overshadowed by the likes of successors
such as Pope Pius XII
and Pope John Paul II.
Contents
Early life
Giacomo in 1866 at age
twelve
Giacomo della Chiesa was born at Pegli, a suburb of Genoa, Italy, third son of Marchese Giuseppe della Chiesa and his wife Marchesa Giovanna Migliorati. Genealogy findings report that his father's side
produced Pope Callixtus II and also claimed descent from Berengar II of Italy and that his maternal family produced Pope
Innocent VII.[7]
His wish to become a priest was rejected early on by his
father who insisted on a legal career for his son.[8] At age 21 he acquired a doctorate in
Law on 2 August 1875. He had attended the University of Genoa, which after the unification of Italy, was largely dominated by anti-Catholic and anti-clerical
politics. With his doctorate in Law and at legal age, he again asked his father
for permission to study for the priesthood, which was now reluctantly granted.
He insisted however, that his son conduct his theological studies in Rome not
in Genoa, so that he would not end up as a village priest or provincial Monsignore.[9]
Della Chiesa entered the Collegio Capranica and was there in Rome when, in 1878, Pope
Pius IX died and was followed by Pope
Leo XIII. The new pope received the students of the Capranica in
private audience only a few days after his coronation. Shortly thereafter,
della Chiesa was ordained a priest by Cardinal Raffaele Monaco La Valletta on 21 December 1878.[10]
From 1878 until 1883 he studied at the Pontificia Accademia dei
Nobili Ecclesiastici in Rome. It was there, on
every Thursday, that students were required to defend a research paper, to
which cardinals and high members of the Roman Curia were invited. Cardinal Mariano
Rampolla took note of him and furthered his entry in the
diplomatic service of the Vatican in 1882, where he was employed by Rampolla as
a secretary and soon to be posted to Madrid.[11] When Rampolla subsequently was
appointed Cardinal Secretary of State, della Chiesa followed him. During these years, della Chiesa helped
negotiate the resolution of a dispute between Germany and Spain over the Caroline
Islands as well as organising relief during a cholera epidemic.
His ambitious mother, Marchesa della Chiesa, is said to
have been discontented with the career of her son, cornering Rampolla with the
words, that in her opinion, Giacomo was not properly recognised in the Vatican.
Rampolla allegedly replied, Signora, your son will take only a few steps,
but they will be gigantic ones.[12]
Just after Leo
XIII's death in 1903, Rampolla tried to make della Chiesa the
secretary of the conclave, but the Holy College elected Rafael Merry del Val, a conservative young prelate, the first sign that Rampolla would not be
the next Pope. When Cardinal Rampolla had to leave his post with the election
of his opponent Pope Pius X,
and was succeeded by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, della Chiesa was retained in his post.
Bologna
Pope Pius X consecrates his future successor Pope Benedict XV as
Bishop Giacomo della Chiesa in the Vatican on 22 December 1907
Archbishop
However, della Chiesa's association with Rampolla, the
architect of Pope Leo XIII's
(1878–1903) foreign policy, made his position in the Secretariat of State under the new pontificate somewhat uncomfortable. Italian papers announced
that on 15 April 1907, the papal nuncio Aristide Rinaldini in Madrid would be replaced by della Chiesa, who had worked there before. Pius
X, chuckling over the journalist’s knowledge, commented,
"Unfortunately, the paper forgot to mention whom I nominated as the next Archbishop of Bologna." [13] On 18 December 1907, in the presence
of his family, the diplomatic corps, numerous bishops and cardinals, and his
friend Rampolla, he received the episcopal consecration from Pope
Pius X himself. The Pope donated his own Episcopal ring and crosier to the new bishop and spent much time with the della Chiesa family on the
following day.[14] On 23 February 1908, della Chiesa
took possession of his new dioceses, which included 700,000 persons, 750
priests, as well as 19 male and 78 female religious institutes. In the Episcopal seminary, some 25 teachers educated 120 students,
preparing for the priesthood.[15]
As bishop, he visited all parishes, making a special
effort to see the smaller ones in the mountains, which could only be accessed
by horse. della Chiesa always saw preaching as the main obligation of a bishop.
He usually gave two or more sermons a day during his visitations. His emphasis
was on cleanliness inside all churches and chapels and on saving money wherever
possible, for he said, "Let us save to give to the poor." [16] A meeting of all priests in a synod had to be postponed at the wish of the Vatican considering ongoing changes
in Canon Law. Numerous churches were built or
restored. della Chiesa personally originated a major reform of the educational
orientation of the seminary, adding more science courses and classic education
to the curriculum.[17] He organized pilgrimages to Marian
shrines in Loreto
and Lourdes
at the 50th anniversary of the apparition.[18] The unexpected death of his friend,
supporter and mentor Rampolla on 16 December 1913,[19] was a major blow to Giacomo della
Chiesa, who was one of the beneficiaries of his will.[18]
Cardinal
Archbishop della Chiesa on
pastoral visit in 1910
It was custom that the Archbishop of Bologna would be created cardinal
in one of the coming consistories.
In Bologna this was surely expected of della Chiesa as well, since, in previous
years, either Cardinals were named as archbishops, or archbishops as Cardinals
soon thereafter.[20] Pius
X did not follow this tradition and left della Chiesa
waiting for almost seven years. When a delegation from Bologna visited him to
ask for della Chiesa's promotion to the College of Cardinals, he jokingly
replied by making fun of his own family name, Sarto (meaning "tailor"),
for he said, "Sorry, but a Sarto has not been found yet to make the
Cardinal's robe." [20] Some suspected that Pius X or persons
close to him did not want to have two Rampollas in the College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Rampolla died 16 December 1913. On 25 May 1914,
della Chiesa was created a cardinal,
becoming Cardinal-Priest of the titulus Santi Quattro Coronati, which before him was occupied by Pietro
Respighi. When the new cardinal tried to return to Bologna after
the consistory in Rome, an unrelated socialist, anti-monarchic and
anti-Catholic uprising began to take place in Central Italy; this was
accompanied by a general strike; the looting and destruction of churches,
telephone connections and railway buildings; and a proclamation of a secular
republic. In Bologna itself, citizens and the Catholic Church opposed such
developments successfully. The Socialists overwhelmingly won the following
regional elections with great majorities.[21]
As World War I approached, the question was hotly
discussed in Italy as to which side to be on. Officially, Italy was still in an
alliance with Germany and Austria–Hungary. However, in the Tirol, an integral part of Austria which was mostly German-speaking, the
southern part, the province of Trento, was exclusively Italian-speaking. The clergy of Bologna was not totally
free from nationalistic fervor either. Therefore in his capacity as Archbishop,
on the outbreak of World War I,
della Chiesa made a speech on the Church's position and duties, emphasizing the
need for neutrality,
promoting peace and the easing of suffering.[22]
Pontificate
Coronation of Pope
Benedict XV in 1914
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Papal styles of
Pope Benedict XV
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Spoken style
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Your Holiness
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Religious style
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Holy Father
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Posthumous style
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None
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Following the death of Pius
X, the resulting conclave opened at the end of August
1914. The war would clearly be the dominant issue of the new pontificate, so
the cardinals' priority was to choose a man with great diplomatic experience.
Thus on 3 September 1914, della Chiesa, despite having been a cardinal only
three months, was elected Pope, taking the name of Benedict XV. He chose the
name in honour of Pope
Benedict XIV who was from Bologna and was also its archbishop.[23] Upon being elected pope, he was also
formally the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre
of Jerusalem, prefect
of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office
and prefect of the Sacred Consistorial
Congregation. There was, however, a Cardinal-Secretary to run these
bodies on a day-to-day basis.
Due to the enduring Roman
Question, after the announcement of his election to the papacy by
the Cardinal Protodeacon, Benedict XV, following in the footsteps of his two
most recent predecessors, did not appear at the balcony of St. Peter's basilica
to grant the urbi et orbi blessing. Benedict XV was crowned at the Sistine Chapel on 6 September
1914, and, also as a form of protest due to the Roman Question, there was no
ceremony for the formal possession of the Cathedral of St. John Lateran.
Benedict XV's pontificate was dominated by World
War I, which he termed, along with its turbulent aftermath,
"the suicide of Europe." Benedict's first encyclical extended a
heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities. His early call for a Christmas
truce in 1914 was ignored. Late in the war, in May-October,
1917, the apparitions
of Our Lady of Fatima occurred in Fatima, Portugal; apparitions that would be declared "worthy of belief" in 1930
during the papacy of his successor, Pius
XI.
Peace
efforts
The war and its consequences were Benedict's main focus
during the early years of his pontificate. He declared the neutrality of the
Holy See and attempted from that perspective to mediate peace in 1916 and 1917.
Both sides rejected his initiatives.
The national antagonisms between the warring parties were
accentuated by religious differences before the war, with France, Italy and
Belgium being largely Catholic. Vatican relations with Great Britain were good,
while neither Prussia nor Imperial Germany had any official
relations with the Vatican. In Protestant circles of Germany, the notion was
popular that the Roman Catholic Pope was neutral on paper only, strongly
favoring the allies instead.[24] Benedict was said to have prompted Austria–Hungary to go to war in order to weaken the German war machine. Allegedly,
however, the Papal Nuncio in Paris explained in a meeting of the Institut
Catholique, "to fight against France is to fight against God,[24]" and the Pope was said to have
exclaimed that he was sorry not to be a Frenchman.[24] The Belgian Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, known as a brave patriot during German occupation but also famous for his
anti-German propaganda, was said to have been favored by Benedict XV for his
enmity to the German cause. (After the war, Benedict also allegedly praised the
Treaty of Versailles, which humiliated the Germans.[24])
These allegations were rejected by the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri,
who wrote on 4 March 1916 that the Holy See is completely impartial and does
not favor the allied side. This was even more important, so Gasparri noted,
after the diplomatic representatives of Germany and Austria–Hungary to the
Vatican were expelled from Rome by Italian authorities.[25] However, considering all this, German
Protestants rejected any "Papal Peace", stating it as insulting.
French politician Georges Clemenceau, a fierce anti-clerical, claimed to regard the Vatican initiative as
anti-French. Benedict made many unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace, but
these pleas for a negotiated peace made him unpopular, even in Catholic
countries like Italy, among many supporters of the war who were determined to
accept nothing less than total victory.[26]
On 1 August 1917, Benedict issued a seven point peace
plan stating that (1) "the moral force of right ... be substituted for the
material force of arms," (2) there must be "simultaneous and
reciprocal diminution of armaments," (3) a mechanism for
"international arbitration" must be established," (4) "true
liberty and common rights over the sea" should exist, (5) there should be
a "renunciation of war indemnities," (6) occupied territories should
be evacuated, and (7) there should be "an examination ... of rival
claims." Great Britain reacted favorably, but United States President Woodrow
Wilson rejected the plan. Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary were
also favorable, but Germany replied ambiguously.[27][28] Benedict also called for outlawing
conscription,[29] a call he repeated in 1921.[30] Some of the proposals eventually were
included in Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen
Points call for peace in January 1918.[26][31]
In Europe, each side saw him as biased in favor of the
other and was unwilling to accept the terms he proposed. Still, although
unsuccessful, his diplomatic efforts during the war are attributed to an
increase of papal prestige and served as a model in the 20th century to the
peace efforts of Pius XII
before and during World War II,
the policies of Paul VI
during the Vietnam War
and the position of John Paul II before and during the War in Iraq.[26]
Humanitarian
efforts
Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli delivers
packages from Benedict XV to Italian POWs in 1917
Almost from the beginning of the war, November 1914,
Benedict negotiated with the warring parties about an exchange of wounded and
other prisoners of war who were unable to continue fighting. Tens of thousands
of such prisoners were exchanged through the intervention of Benedict XV.[25] On 15 January 1915, the Pope proposed
an exchange of civilians from the occupied zones, which resulted in 20,000
persons being sent to unoccupied Southern France in one month.[25] In 1916, the Pope managed to hammer
out an agreement between both sides, by which 29,000 prisoners with lung
disease from the gas attacks could be sent into Switzerland.[32] In May 1918, he also reached
agreement that prisoners on both sides with at least 18 months of captivity and
four children at home would also be sent to neutral Switzerland.[25]
He succeeded in 1915 in reaching an agreement by which
the warring parties promised not to let Prisoners of War (POWs) work on Sundays
and holidays.
Several individuals on both sides were spared the death penalty after his
intervention. Hostages were exchanged and
corpses repatriated.[25] The Pope founded the Opera dei
Prigionieri to assist in distributing information on prisoners. By the end
of the war, some 600,000 items of correspondence were processed. Almost a third
of it concerned missing persons. Some 40,000 people had asked for help in the
repatriation of sick POWs and 50,000 letters were sent from families to their
loved ones who were POWs.[33]
Both during and after the war, Benedict was primarily
concerned about the fate of the children, about which he even issued an
encyclical. In 1916 he appealed to the people and clergy of the United States
to help him feed the starving children in German-occupied Belgium. His aid to
children was not limited to Belgium but extended to children in Lithuania,
Poland, Lebanon, Montenegro, Syria and Russia.[34] Benedict was particularly appalled at
the new military invention of aerial warfare and protested several times
against it to no avail.[35]
In May and June 1915, the Ottoman
Empire waged a campaign against the Armenian Christian
minorities, which by some contemporary accounts looked like genocide or even a holocaust
in Anatolia. The Vatican attempted to get Germany and Austria–Hungary involved in
protesting to its Turkish ally. The Pope himself sent a personal letter to the
Sultan, who was also Caliph of Islam. It had no
success, “as over a million Armenians died, either killed outright by the
Turks, or as a result of maltreatment or from starvation."[35]
After
the war
At the time, however, the anti-Vatican resentment, combined
with Italian diplomatic moves to isolate the Vatican in light of the unresolved
Roman Question,[36] contributed to the exclusion of the
Vatican from the Paris Peace conference of 1919 (although it was also part of a historical pattern of political
and diplomatic marginalization of the papacy after the loss of the papal
states). Despite this, he wrote an encyclical pleading for international reconciliation, Pacem, Dei Munus
Pulcherrimum[37] There is a statue in Saint Peter's
Basilica of the Pontiff absorbed in prayer, kneeling on a tomb which
commemorates a fallen soldier of the war, which he described as a "useless
massacre."
After the war, Benedict focused the Vatican's activities
on overcoming famine and misery in Europe and establishing contacts and
relations with the many new states which were created because of the demise of
Imperial Russia, Austria–Hungary and Germany. Large food shipments and
information about, as well as contacts with, prisoners of war were to be the
first steps for a better understanding of the papacy in Europe.[4]
Regarding the Versailles Peace Conference, the Vatican believed that the economic conditions imposed on Germany were
too harsh and threatened the European economic stability as a whole. Cardinal
Gasparri believed that the peace conditions and the humiliation of the Germans
would likely result in another war as soon as Germany would be militarily in a
position to start one.[38] The Vatican also rejected the
dissolution of Austria–Hungary, seeing in this step an inevitable and eventual strengthening of Germany.[39] The Vatican also had great
reservations about the creation of small successor states which, in the view of
Gasparri, were not viable economically and therefore condemned to economic
misery.[40] Benedict rejected the League
of Nations as a secular organization that was not built on Christian
values.[41] On the other hand, he also condemned
European nationalism that was rampant in the 1920s and asked for "European
Unification" in his 1920 encyclical Pacem
Dei Munus.[41]
The pope was also disturbed by the Communist revolution
in Russia. The Pope reacted with horror to the strongly anti-religious policies
adopted by Vladimir Lenin's
government along with the bloodshed and widespread famine which occurred during
the subsequent Russian Civil War. He undertook the greatest efforts trying to help the victims of the
Russian famine, raising five million[clarification needed] in 1921 alone.[41] Following the dissolution of the Ottoman
Empire, concerns were raised in the Vatican about the safety
and future of the Catholics in the Holy Land.
Diplomatic agenda
In the post-war period, Pope Benedict XV was involved in
developing the Church administration to deal with the new international system
that had emerged. The papacy was faced with the emergence of numerous new
states such as Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia,
Finland, and others. Germany, France, Italy and Austria were impoverished from
the war. In addition, the traditional social and cultural European order was
threatened by right-wing nationalism and fascism as well as left-wing socialism
and communism, all of which potentially threatened the existence and freedom of
the Church. To deal with these and related issues, Benedict engaged in what he
knew best, a large scale diplomatic offensive to secure the rights of the
faithful in all countries.
Italy
Leo XIII already had agreed to the
participation of Catholics in local but not national politics. Relations with
Italy improved as well under Benedict XV, who de facto reversed the stiff
anti-Italian policy of his predecessors by allowing Catholics to participate in
national elections as well. This led to a surgence of the Partito Popolare Italiano under Luigi Sturzo.
Anti-Catholic politicians were gradually replaced by persons who were neutral
or even sympathetic to the Catholic Church. The King of Italy himself gave
signals of his desire for better relations, when, for example, he sent personal
condolences to the Pontiff on the death of his brother.[42] The working conditions for Vatican
staff greatly improved and feelers were extended on both sides to solve the Roman
Question. Benedict XV strongly supported a solution and seemed to
have had a fairly pragmatic view of the political and social situation in Italy
at this time. Thus, while numerous traditional Catholics opposed voting rights
for women, the pope was in favour, arguing that, unlike the feminist
protagonists, most women would vote conservative and thus support traditional
Catholic positions.[43]
France
Joan of Arc enters Orléans
(painting by J.J. Sherer, 1887) Joan was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.
Benedict XV attempted to improve relations with the
anti-clerical Republican government of France. He canonized the French national
heroine Saint Joan of Arc. In the mission territories of the Third
World, he emphasized the necessity of training native priests
to quickly replace the European missionaries, and founded the Pontifical Oriental Institute and the Coptic College in the Vatican. In 1921, France re-established
diplomatic relations with the Vatican.[44]
Soviet
Union
The end of the war caused the revolutionary development,
which Benedict XV had foreseen in his first encyclical. With the Russian Revolution, the Vatican
was faced with a new, so far unknown, situation.
Lithuania
and Estonia
His friend Cardinal
Rampolla at age 70 shortly before his death
The relations with Russia changed drastically for a
second reason. The Baltic states
and Poland gained their independence from Russia after World
War I, thus enabling a relatively free Church life in those
former Russia-controlled countries. Estonia was the first country to look for Vatican ties. On 11 April 1919, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri
informed the Estonian authorities that the Vatican would agree to have
diplomatic relations. A concordat was agreed upon in
principle a year later in June 1920. It was signed on 30 May 1922. It
guaranteed freedom for the Catholic Church, established archdioceses, liberated
clergy from military service, allowed the creation of seminaries and Catholic
schools and enshrined church property rights and immunity. The Archbishop swore
alliance to Estonia.[45]
Relations with Catholic Lithuania were slightly more
complicated because of the Polish occupation
of Vilnius, a city and archiepiscopal seat, which Lithuania claimed as its own.
Polish forces had occupied Vilnius and committed acts of brutality in its Catholic seminary there. This generated
several protests by Lithuania to the Holy See.[46] Relations with the Holy See were
defined during the pontificate of Pope
Pius XI (1922–1939)
Poland
Before all other heads of State, Pope Benedict XV in
October 1918 congratulated the Polish people on their independence.[47] In a public letter to Archbishop
Kakowski of Warsaw, he remembered their loyalty and the many efforts of the Holy See to assist
them. He expressed his hopes that Poland would again take its place in the
family of nations and continue its history as an educated Christian nation.[47] In March 1919, he nominated 10 new
bishops and, soon after, Achille Ratti as papal nuncio who was
already in Warsaw as his representative.[47] He repeatedly cautioned Polish
authorities against persecuting Lithuanian and Ruthenian
clergy.[48]
Benedict XV as Cardinal
Della Chiesa in 1914
During the Bolshevik advance against Warsaw, he asked for
worldwide public prayers for Poland. Nuncio Ratti was the only foreign diplomat to stay in the Polish capital. On 11
June 1921, he wrote to the Polish episcopate, warning against political misuses
of spiritual power, urging again for peaceful coexistence with neighbouring
peoples, stating that “love of country has its limits in justice and
obligations.”[49] He sent nuncio Ratti to Silesia to
act against potential political agitations of the Catholic clergy.[48]
Ratti, a scholar, intended to work for Poland and build
bridges to the Soviet Union,
hoping even to shed his blood for Russia.[50] Pope Benedict XV needed him as a
diplomat and not as a martyr and forbade any trip into
the USSR even though he was the official papal delegate to
Russia.[50] However, he continued his contacts
with Russia. This did not generate much sympathy for him within Poland at the
time. He was asked to go. “While he tried honestly to show himself as a friend
of Poland, Warsaw forced his departure after his neutrality in Silesian voting was questioned”[51] by Germans and Poles. Nationalistic
Germans objected to a Polish nuncio supervising elections, and Poles were upset
because he curtailed agitating clergy.[52] On 20 November, when German Cardinal Adolf
Bertram announced a papal ban on all political activities of
clergymen, calls for Ratti's expulsion climaxed in Warsaw.[52] Two years later, Achille Ratti became
Pope
Pius XI, shaping Vatican policies towards Poland with Pietro
Gasparri and Eugenio Pacelli for the following 36
years (1922–1958).
Church affairs
The handwriting of Pope
Benedict XV.
Theology
In internal Church affairs, Benedict XV reiterated Pius
X's condemnation of "modernist" scholars and the errors in modern philosophical systems in his first encyclical, Ad
Beatissimi Apostolorum. He declined to readmit to full communion scholars
who had been excommunicated during the previous pontificate. However, he calmed
what he saw as the excesses of the anti-modernist campaign within the Church.
On 25 July 1920, he wrote the motu
proprio Bonum sane
on Saint Joseph
and against naturalism and socialism.
Canon
law reform
In 1917 Benedict XV promulgated the Church's first Code of Canon Law, the preparation of which
had been commissioned by Pope St. Pius X, and which is thus known as the
Pio-Benedictine Code. This Code, which entered into force in 1918, was the
first consolidation of the Church's Canon Law into a modern Code made up of
simple articles. Previously, Canon Law was dispersed in a variety of sources
and partial compilations. The new Canon Law is credited with reviving religious
life and providing judicial clarity throughout the Church.[5] In addition, continuing the concerns
of Leo XIII, he furthered Eastern Catholic
culture, theology and liturgy by founding an Oriental Institute for them in
Rome.[5]
Catholic
missions
On 30 November 1919, Benedict XV appealed to all
Catholics worldwide to sacrifice for Catholic missions, stating at the same
time in Maximum Illud that these missions should foster local culture and not import European
cultures.[5] The damages of such cultural imports[53] were particularly grave in Africa and
Asia, where many missionaries were deported and incarcerated if they happened
to originate from a hostile nation.
Mariology
"Salus Populi
Romani"
Pope Benedict personally addressed in numerous letters
the pilgrims at Marian sanctuaries. He named Mary the Patron of Bavaria, and
permitted, in Mexico, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Guadaloupe. He
authorised the Feast of Mary Mediator of all Graces.[6] He condemned the misuse of Marian
statues and pictures, dressed in priestly robes, which he outlawed 4 April
1916.[54]
During World
War I, Benedict placed the world under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and added the invocation Mary Queen of Peace to the Litany of Loreto. He promoted Marian veneration throughout the world by elevating 20 well-known Marian shrines such as Ettal
Abbey in Bavaria into Basilica Minors. He also promoted Marian
devotions in May.[55] The dogmatic constitution on the
Church issued by the Second Vatican Council quotes the Marian theology of Benedict XV.[56]
Pope Benedict issued an encyclical, Bonum sane on
25 July, 1920, encouraging devotion to Saint
Joseph "since through S. Joseph we go directly to Mary,
and through Mary to the source of every holiness, Jesus Christ, who consecrated
the domestic virtues with his obedience to S. Joseph and Mary."[57]
He issued an encyclical on Ephraim the Syrian depicting Ephraim as a model of Marian devotion, as well as the Apostolic Letter, Inter Soldalica,
of 22 March 1918.[58]
"As the blessed Virgin Mary does not seem to participate in the public
life of Jesus Christ, and then, suddenly appears at the stations of his cross,
she is not there without divine intention. She suffers with her suffering and
dying son, almost as if she would have died herself. For the salvation of
mankind, she gave up her rights as the mother of her son and sacrificed him for
the reconciliation of divine justice, as far as she was permitted to do.
Therefore, one can say, she redeemed with Christ the human race."[58]
Writings
During his seven-year pontificate, Benedict XV wrote a
total of twelve encyclicals.
In addition to the encyclicals mentioned, he issued In Hac Tanta on St.
Boniface (14 May 1919), Paterno Iam Diu on the Children of Central
Europe (24 November 1919), Pacem, Dei Munus Pulcherrimum on Peace and
Christian Reconciliation (23 May 1920), Spiritus Paraclitus on St.
Jerome (September 1920), Principi Apostolorum Petro on St. Ephram the
Syrian (5 October 1920), Annus Iam Plenus also on Children in Central
Europe (1 December 1920), Sacra Propediem on the Third Order of St.
Francis (6 January 1921), In Praeclara Summorum on Dante (30 April
1921), and Fausto Appetente Die on St. Dominic (29 June 1921).
His Apostolic Exhortations include Ubi Primum (8 September 1914), Allorché fummo chiamati
(28 July 1915) and Dès le début (1 August 1917) The Papal bulls of Benedict XV include Incruentum
Altaris (10 August 1915), Providentissima Mater (27 May 1917) Sedis
huius (14 May 1919), and Divina disponente (16 May 1920). Benedict
XV issued nine Breves during his pontificate: Divinum Praeceptum (December 1915), Romanorum
Pontificum (February 1916), Cum Catholicae Ecclesiae (April 1916), Cum
Biblia Sacra (August 1916), Cum Centesimus (October 1916), Centesimo
Hodie (October 1916), Quod Ioannes (April 1917), In Africam
quisnam (June 1920), and Quod nobis in condendo (September 1920).
Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum
Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum is an encyclical
of Benedict XV given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the Feast of All Saints on 1 November
1914, in the first year of his pontificate. The first encyclical written by
Pope Benedict XV coincided with the beginning of World
War I, which he labeled "The Suicide of Civilized
Europe." Benedict XV described the combatants as the greatest and
wealthiest nations of the earth, stating that "they are well-provided with
the most awful weapons modern military science has devised, and they strive to
destroy one another with refinements of horror. There is no limit to the
measure of ruin and of slaughter; day by day the earth is drenched with newly
shed blood and is covered with the bodies of the wounded and of the
slain." [59]
In light of the senseless slaughter, the pope pled for
"peace on earth to men of good will," (Luke 2:14), insisting that
there are other ways and means whereby violated rights can be rectified.[60]
The origin of the evil is a neglect of the precepts and
practices of Christian wisdom, particularly a lack of love and compassion.
Jesus Christ came down from Heaven for the very purpose of restoring among men
the Kingdom of Peace, as He stated, "A new commandment I give unto you:
That you love one another."[61] This message is repeated in John
15:12, in which Jesus says, "This is my commandment that you love one
another."[62] Materialism, nationalism, racism and class
warfare are the characteristics of the age instead, so Benedict
XV described:
"Race hatred has reached its climax; peoples are more divided by
jealousies than by frontiers; within one and the same nation, within the same
city there rages the burning envy of class against class; and amongst
individuals it is self-love which is the supreme law over-ruling
everything." [63]
Humani Generis Redemptionem
The encyclical Humani Generis
Redemptionem from 15 June 1917, deals
with blatant ineffectiveness of Christian preaching. According to Benedict XV,
there are more preachers of the Word than ever before, but "in the state
of public and private morals as well as the constitutions and laws of nations,
there is a general disregard and forgetfulness of the supernatural, a gradual
falling away from the strict standard of Christian virtue, and that men are
slipping back into the shameful practices of paganism." [64] The Pope squarely put part of the
blame on those ministers of the Gospel who do not handle it as they should. It
is not the times but the incompetent Christian preachers who are to blame, for
no one today can say for sure that the Apostles were living in better times
than ours. Perhaps, the encyclical states, that the Apostles found minds more
readily devoted to the Gospel, or they may have met others with less opposition
to the law of God.[65] As the encyclical tells, first are
the Catholic bishops. The Council
of Trent taught that preaching "is the paramount duty of
Bishops."[66] The Apostles, whose successors the
bishops are, looked upon the Church as something theirs, for it was they who
received the grace of the Holy Spirit to begin it. Saint Paul wrote to the
Corinthians, "Christ sent us not to baptize, but to preach the
Gospel." [67] Council of Trent Bishops are required
to select for this priestly office those only who are "fit" for the
position, i.e. those who "can exercise the ministry of preaching with
profit to souls." Profiting souls does not mean doing such
"eloquently or with popular applause, but rather with spiritual
fruit." [68] The Pope requested that all the
priests who are incapable of preaching or of hearing confession be removed from
the position.[69] The encyclical helps to draw out the
message that priests must concentrate on the Word on God and the benefitting of
souls before their own selves.
Quod Iam Diu
Quod
Iam Diu was an encyclical given at Rome at St. Peter's on 1
December 1918, in the fifth year of his Pontificate. It requested that, after World
War I, all Catholics of the world pray for a lasting peace and
for those who are entrusted to make such during peace negotiations.
The pope noted that true peace has not yet arrived, but
the Armistice has suspended the slaughter and devastation by land, sea and air.[70] It is the obligation of all Catholics
to "invoke Divine assistance for all who take part in the peace
conference," as the encyclical states. The Pope concludes that prayer is
essential for the delegates who are to meet to define peace, as they are in
need of much support.[71]
Maximum Illud
Maximum
Illud is an apostolic letter of Benedict XV issued on
November 30, 1919, in the sixth year of his pontificate. It deals with the
Catholic missions after World
War I. Benedict XV recalled the great Apostles of the Gospel
who contributed much to the expansion of missions. He reviewed the recent
history of the missions and stated so as the purpose of the apostolic letter.[72] The encyclical first turned to the
bishops and superiors in charge of the Catholic missions, noting the need to
train local clergy. Catholic missionaries today continue to be reminded that
their goal is a spiritual one which must be carried out in a selfless way.[73]
Benedict XV underlined the necessity of proper
preparation for the work in foreign cultures and the need to acquire language
skills before doing such work. He requested a continued strive for personal
sanctity and praised the selfless work of the religious females in the
missions.[74] "Mission," however,
"is not only for missionaries, but all Catholics must participate through
their apostolate of prayer, by supporting vocations, and by helping
financially." [75] The encyclical in concluded with the
naming of several organizations which organize and supervise mission activities
within the Catholic Church.[76]
Personality and appearance
The birthplace of Pope
Benedict XV in Pegli
Many factors of Pope Benedict XV's life made him
characteristically unique. In physical appearance, he was a slight man (the
smallest of three cassocks that were prepared for the election of a new pope in
1914). As a result, he became known as "Il Piccolito" or "The
Little Man." Benedict XV was dignified in bearing and courtly in terms of
matters, but his appearance was not that of a pope. He was undersized with a
sallow complexion, a mat of black hair, and prominent teeth. Yet despite this,
everything about him seemed crooked from his nose to his eyes and shoulders.[77]
He was renowned for his generosity, answering all pleas for
help from poor Roman families with large cash gifts from his private revenues.
When he was short on money, those who would be admitted to an audience would
often be instructed by prelates not to mention their financial woes, as
Benedict would inevitably feel guilty that he could not help the needy at the
time. He also depleted the Vatican's official revenues with large-scale
charitable expenditure during World War I. Upon his death, the Vatican Treasury
had been depleted to the equivalent in Italian lire of U.S. $19,000.[78]
However, Benedict XV was a careful innovator by Vatican
standards. He was known to carefully consider all novelties before he ordered
their implementation, then insisting on them to the fullest. He rejected
clinging to the past for the past’s sake with the words "Let us live in
the present and not in history." [79] His relation to secular Italian
powers was reserved yet positive, avoiding conflict and tacitly supporting the
Royal Family of Italy. Yet, like Pius
IX and Leo
XIII, he also protested against interventions of State
authorities in internal Church affairs.[79] Pope Benedict was not considered a
man of letters. He did not publish educational or devotional books. His
encyclicals are pragmatic and down-to-earth, intelligent yet at times
far-sighted. He remained neutral during the battles of the "Great
War," when almost everybody else was claiming "sides." Like that
of Pius XII during World War II, his neutrality
was questioned by all sides then and even to this day.[80]
Benedict XV personally had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He added the title 'Queen of Peace' to her Litany as aforementioned and
gave his support to an understanding of Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces by
approving a Mass and office under this title for the dioceses of Belgium.
Benedict affirmed that "together with Christ, she redeemed the human
race" by her immolation of Christ as his sorrowful mother as described in
his apostolic letter Inter Sodalicia.
Death and legacy
Benedict XV celebrated Mass with the nuns at the Domus Sanctae Marthae and while he waited for his driver out in the rain he fell ill with the
flu which turned into pneumonia. After a month of pain
from which he was said not to recover, he succumbed to that illness on 22
January 1922 at the age of 67, his nephews alongside him. After his death,
flags were flown at half-staff
in memory of him and as a tribute to him. His body then lay in state for the
people to see before being moved for burial in the Vatican grottos.
Possibly the least remembered pope of the twentieth
century, Benedict XV is nevertheless an unsung hero for his valiant efforts to
end World War I. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI recognized the
significance of his long-ago predecessor's commitment to peace by taking the
same name upon his own rise to the pontificate. Benedict XV was unique in his
humane approach to the world in 1914–1918, which starkly contrasted with that
of the other great monarchs and leaders of the time. His worth is reflected in
the tribute engraved at the foot of the statue that the Turks, a non-Catholic, non-Christian people, erected of him in Istanbul: "The great Pope of the world tragedy...the benefactor of all people,
irrespective of nationality or religion." This monument stands in the
courtyard of the St. Esprit Cathedral.
Views of successors
Pius
XII
Pope
Pius XII showed high regard for Benedict XV, who had consecrated
him a bishop on 13 May 1917, the very day of the first reported apparitions
of Our Lady of Fatima. While Pius XII considered another Benedict, Benedict XIV in terms of his sanctity
and scholarly contributions to be worthy as Doctor of the Church,[81] he thought that Benedict XV during
his short pontificate was truly a man of God, who worked for peace.[82] He helped prisoners of war and many
others who needed help in dire times and was extremely generous to Russia.[83] He praised him as a Marian Pope who
promoted the devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes,[84] for his encyclicals Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, Humani Generis Redemptionem, Quod Iam Diu,
and Spiritus Paraclitus, and, for the codification of Canon Law,[85] which under della Chiesa and Pietro
Gasparri, he as Eugenio Pacelli had the opportunity to
participate in.
Benedict
XVI
Pope Benedict XVI showed his own admiration for Benedict XV following his election to the
papacy on 19 April 2005. The election of a new Pope is often accompanied by
conjecture over his choice of papal name; it is widely believed that a Pope
chooses the name of a predecessor whose teachings and legacy he wishes to
continue. Ratzinger's choice of "Benedict" was seen as a signal that
Benedict XV's views on humanitarian diplomacy, and his stance against relativism and modernism,
would be emulated during the reign of the new Pope.
During his first General Audience in St. Peter's Square on 27 April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to Benedict XV when
explaining his choice: "Filled with sentiments of awe and thanksgiving,
I wish to speak of why I chose the name Benedict. Firstly, I remember Pope
Benedict XV, that courageous prophet of peace, who guided the Church through
turbulent times of war. In his footsteps I place my ministry in the service of
reconciliation and harmony between peoples."
See also
Notes
Jump up ^ George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy: The Families and
Descendants of the Popes (2004:133)
Jump up ^ Note on numbering: Pope Benedict X is now considered an antipope. At the time, however, this status was not recognized, and so the man the
Roman Catholic church officially considers the tenth true Pope Benedict took the official number XI, rather than X. This has advanced the
numbering of all subsequent Popes Benedict by one. Popes Benedict XI-XVI are,
from an official point of view, the tenth through fifteenth popes by that name.
In other words, there is no legitimate Pope Benedict X.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Conrad Gröber, Handbuch der Religiösen Gegenwartsfragen,
Herder Freiburg, Germany 1937, 493
Jump up ^ AAS 1916 146 Baumann in Marienkunde; 673
Jump up ^ Pope Benedict XV, Bonum Sane, §4, Vatican, 25 July
1920
Jump up ^ "Alleged
The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism
in Europe: David I. Kertzer". Amazon. ASIN 0812993462.
Jump up ^ Michael Burleigh, Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and
Politics from the Great War to the War on Terror, HarperCollins, 2007, p.70.
Jump up ^ Pio XII, Discorsi, Roma 1939–1958, Vol. VIII, 419
References
Peters, Walter H. The Life of Benedict
XV. 1959. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company.
Daughters of St. Paul. "Popes of the
Twentieth Century". 1983. Pauline Books and Media
Pollard, John F. "The Unknown
Pope". 1999. London: Geoffrey Chapman
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Succeeded by
Victoriano Guisasola Menéndez
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Pope
3 September 1914 – 22 January 1922
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