Dates

• Existence: 1876 March 2 - 1958 October 9

Biographical note

Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli was born on March 2, 1876 in Rome to Filippo and Virginia Graziosi Pacelli. He began his theological studies in 1894 at Almo Collegio Capranica, the oldest seminary in Rome; however, he left after the first academic year and continued his studies at home, earning a doctoral degree in Sacred Theology in 1899 on the basis of a short dissertation and an oral examination in Latin. Pacelli was ordained priest on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1899, and entered the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, a sub-office of the Vatican Secretariat of State, in 1901, and subsequently served in a number of other Vatican offices. He earned a second doctorate, in canon law, in 1904. Pope Benedict XV appointed Pacelli as nuncio to Bavaria in 1917, consecrating him as titular Archbishop of Sardis; his nunciature was moved to Berlin, Germany in August 1925. Pope Pius XI made him cardinal in 1929 and appointed him Cardinal Secretary of State in 1930, responsible for foreign policy and state relations throughout the world. In 1935, he became Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, in charge of administering the property and revenues of the Holy See. Pacelli was elected pope in 1939, taking the name Pius XII. His experience with foreign relations in Germany became invaluable in leading the Church through World War II, even though the Vatican remained officially neutral and Pius XII was criticized for his lack of public condemnation of Nazi atrocities. Pius XII died on October 9, 1958, and was declared Venerable in 2009.

Alternate names

Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli

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