Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV (Latin: Benedictus XV; 21 Novem-ber 1854 22 January 1922), bornGiacomo Paolo Gio-vanni Battista della Chiesa,[lower-alpha 1] was Pope from3 September 1914 to his death in 1922. His ponticatewas largely overshadowed by World War I and its politi-cal, social and humanitarian consequences in Europe.Between 1846 and 1903, the Catholic Church had expe-rienced its two longest ponticates in history up to thatpoint. Together Pius IX and Leo XIII ruled for a totalof 57 years. In 1914, the College of Cardinals chosedella Chiesa at the young age of 59, indicating their de-sire for another long-lasting ponticate at the outbreakof World War I, which he labeled the suicide of civi-lized Europe. [3] The war and its consequences were themain focus of Benedict XV. He immediately declared theneutrality of the Holy See and attempted from that per-spective to mediate peace in 1916 and 1917. Both sidesrejected his initiatives. German Protestants rejected anyPapal Peace as insulting. The French politicianGeorgesClemenceau regarded the Vatican initiative as being anti-French.[4] Having failed with diplomatic initiatives, Bene-dict XV focused on humanitarian eorts to lessen theimpacts of the war, such as attending prisoners of war,the exchange of wounded soldiers and food deliveries toneedy populations in Europe. After the war, he repairedthe dicult relations with France, which re-establishedrelations with the Vatican in 1921. During his ponti-cate, relations with Italy improved as well, as BenedictXV now permitted Catholic politicians led by Don LuigiSturzo to participate in national Italian politics.In 1917, Benedict XV promulgated the Code of CanonLawwhich was released onMay 27, the creation of whichhe had prepared with Pietro Gasparri and Eugenio Pacelli(future Pope Pius XII) during the ponticate of PopePius X. The new Code of Canon Law is considered tohave stimulated religious life and activities throughout theChurch.[5] He named Pietro Gasparri to be his CardinalSecretary of State and personally consecrated Nuncio Eu-genio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) on 13 May 1917as Archbishop. World War I caused great damage toCatholic missions throughout the world. Benedict XVrevitalized these activities, asking in Maximum Illud forCatholics throughout the world to participate. For that,he has been referred to as the Pope of Missions. Hislast concern was the emerging persecution of the CatholicChurch in Soviet Russia and the famine there after therevolution. Benedict XV was devoted to the Blessed Vir-gin Mary and authorized the Feast of Mary, Mediatrix ofall Graces.[6]

After seven years in oce, Pope Benedict XV died on22 January 1922 after battling pneumonia since the startof that month. He was buried in the grottos of Saint Pe-ters Basilica. With his diplomatic skills and his opennesstowards modern society, he gained respect for himselfand the papacy.[5] To this day, he is possibly the least re-membered ponti of the 20th century, overshadowed bythe likes of successors such as Pope Pius XII and PopeJohn Paul II.

1 Early life

Giacomo in 1866 at age twelve

Giacomo della Chiesa was born at Pegli, a suburb ofGenoa, Italy, third son of Marchese Giuseppe dellaChiesa and his wife Marchesa Giovanna Migliorati. Ge-nealogy ndings report that his fathers side producedPope Callixtus II and also claimed descent from BerengarII of Italy and that his maternal family produced Pope In-nocent VII.[7]

His wish to become a priest was rejected early on by hisfather who insisted on a legal career for his son.[8] At age21 he acquired a doctorate in Law on 2 August 1875.He had attended the University of Genoa, which after

1

2 2 BOLOGNA

the unication of Italy, was largely dominated by anti-Catholic and anti-clerical politics. With his doctorate inLaw and at legal age, he again asked his father for per-mission to study for the priesthood, which was now re-luctantly granted. He insisted however, that his son con-duct his theological studies in Rome not in Genoa, sothat he would not end up as a village priest or provincialMonsignore.[9]

Della Chiesa entered the Collegio Capranica and wasthere in Rome when, in 1878, Pope Pius IX died and wasfollowed by Pope Leo XIII. The new pope received thestudents of the Capranica in private audience only a fewdays after his coronation. Shortly thereafter, della Chiesawas ordained a priest by Cardinal Raaele Monaco LaValletta on 21 December 1878.[10]

From 1878 until 1883 he studied at the Ponticia Ac-cademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici in Rome. It was there,on every Thursday, that students were required to de-fend a research paper, to which cardinals and high mem-bers of the Roman Curia were invited. Cardinal MarianoRampolla took note of him and furthered his entry inthe diplomatic service of the Vatican in 1882, where hewas employed by Rampolla as a secretary and soon to beposted to Madrid.[11] When Rampolla subsequently wasappointed Cardinal Secretary of State, della Chiesa fol-lowed him. During these years, della Chiesa helped ne-gotiate the resolution of a dispute between Germany andSpain over the Caroline Islands as well as organising reliefduring a cholera epidemic.His ambitious mother, Marchesa della Chiesa, is said tohave been discontented with the career of her son, cor-nering Rampolla with the words, that in her opinion, Gi-acomo was not properly recognised in the Vatican. Ram-polla allegedly replied, Signora, your son will take only afew steps, but they will be gigantic ones.[12]

Just after Leo XIII's death in 1903, Rampolla tried tomake della Chiesa the secretary of the conclave, but theHoly College elected RafaelMerry del Val, a conservativeyoung prelate, the rst sign that Rampolla would not bethe next Pope. When Cardinal Rampolla had to leave hispost with the election of his opponent Pope Pius X, andwas succeeded by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, dellaChiesa was retained in his post.

2 Bologna

2.1 Archbishop

Della Chiesas association with Rampolla, the architectof Pope Leo XIII's (18781903) foreign policy, made hisposition in the Secretariat of State under the new ponti-cate somewhat uncomfortable. Italian papers announcedthat on 15 April 1907, the papal nuncio Aristide Rinal-dini in Madrid would be replaced by della Chiesa, whohad worked there before. Pius X, chuckling over the

Pope Pius X consecrates his future successor Pope Benedict XVas Bishop Giacomo della Chiesa in the Vatican on 22 December1907

journalists knowledge, commented, Unfortunately, thepaper forgot to mention whom I nominated as the nextArchbishop of Bologna. [13] On 18 December 1907, inthe presence of his family, the diplomatic corps, numer-ous bishops and cardinals, and his friend Rampolla, hereceived the episcopal consecration from Pope Pius Xhimself. The Pope donated his own Episcopal ring andcrosier to the new bishop and spent much time with thedella Chiesa family on the following day.[14] On 23 Febru-ary 1908, della Chiesa took possession of his new dioce-ses, which included 700,000 persons, 750 priests, as wellas 19 male and 78 female religious institutes. In the Epis-copal seminary, some 25 teachers educated 120 students,preparing for the priesthood.[15]

As bishop, he visited all parishes, making a special eortto see the smaller ones in the mountains, which could onlybe accessed by horse. della Chiesa always saw preachingas the main obligation of a bishop. He usually gave twoor more sermons a day during his visitations. His empha-sis was on cleanliness inside all churches and chapels andon saving money wherever possible, for he said, Let ussave to give to the poor. [16] A meeting of all priests ina synod had to be postponed at the wish of the Vaticanconsidering ongoing changes in Canon Law. Numerouschurches were built or restored. della Chiesa personallyoriginated a major reform of the educational orientationof the seminary, adding more science courses and classiceducation to the curriculum.[17] He organized pilgrimagesto Marian shrines in Loreto and Lourdes at the 50th an-niversary of the apparition.[18] The unexpected death ofhis friend, supporter and mentor Rampolla on 16 Decem-ber 1913,[19] was a major blow to Giacomo della Chiesa,who was one of the beneciaries of his will.[18]

32.2 Cardinal

Archbishop della Chiesa on pastoral visit in 1910

It was custom that the Archbishop of Bologna wouldbe created cardinal in one of the coming consistories.In Bologna this was surely expected of della Chiesaas well, since, in previous years, either Cardinals werenamed as archbishops, or archbishops as Cardinals soonthereafter.[20] Pius X did not follow this tradition andleft della Chiesa waiting for almost seven years. Whena delegation from Bologna visited him to ask for dellaChiesas promotion to the College of Cardinals, he jok-ingly replied bymaking fun of his own family name, Sarto(meaning tailor), for he said, Sorry, but a Sarto has notbeen found yet to make the Cardinals robe. [20] Somesuspected that Pius X or persons close to him did not wantto have two Rampollas in the College of Cardinals.Cardinal Rampolla died 16 December 1913. On 25May 1914, della Chiesa was created a cardinal, be-coming Cardinal-Priest of the titulus Santi Quattro Coro-nati, which before him was occupied by Pietro Respighi.When the new cardinal tried to return to Bologna af-ter the consistory in Rome, an unrelated socialist, anti-monarchic and anti-Catholic uprising began to take placein Central Italy; this was accompanied by a general strike;the looting and destruction of churches, telephone con-nections and railway buildings; and a proclamation ofa secular republic. In Bologna itself, citizens and theCatholic Church opposed such developments success-fully. The Socialists overwhelmingly won the followingregional elections with great majorities.[21]

As World War I approached, the question was hotly dis-cussed in Italy as to which side to be on. Ocially,Italy was still in an alliance with Germany and Austria

Hungary. However, in the Tirol, an integral part ofAustria which was mostly German-speaking, the south-ern part, the province of Trento, was exclusively Italian-speaking. The clergy of Bologna was not totally free fromnationalistic fervor either. Therefore in his capacity asArchbishop, on the outbreak ofWorldWar I, della Chiesamade a speech on the Churchs position and duties, em-phasizing the need for neutrality, promoting peace andthe easing of suering.[22]

3 Ponticate

Coronation of Pope Benedict XV in 1914

Following the death of Pius X, the resulting conclaveopened at the end of August 1914. The war would clearlybe the dominant issue of the new ponticate, so the car-dinals priority was to choose a man with great diplo-matic experience. Thus on 3 September 1914, dellaChiesa, despite having been a cardinal only three months,was elected Pope, taking the name of Benedict XV. Hechose the name in honour of Pope Benedict XIV who wasfrom Bologna and was also its archbishop.[23] Upon beingelected pope, he was also formally the Grand Master ofthe Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem,prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the HolyOce and prefect of the Sacred Consistorial Congrega-tion. There was, however, a Cardinal-Secretary to runthese bodies on a day-to-day basis.Due to the enduring Roman Question, after the an-nouncement of his election to the papacy by the Cardi-nal Protodeacon, Benedict XV, following in the footstepsof his two most recent predecessors, did not appear atthe balcony of St. Peters basilica to grant the urbi et orbiblessing. Benedict XV was crowned at the Sistine Chapelon 6 September 1914, and, also as a form of protest dueto the Roman Question, there was no ceremony for theformal possession of the Cathedral of St. John Lateran.Benedict XVs ponticate was dominated byWorldWar I,which he termed, along with its turbulent aftermath, thesuicide of Europe. Benedicts rst encyclical extendeda heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities. His early callfor a Christmas truce in 1914 was ignored. Late in the

4 3 PONTIFICATE

war, in MayOctober, 1917, the apparitions of Our Ladyof Fatima occurred in Fatima, Portugal; apparitions thatwould be declared worthy of belief in 1930 during thepapacy of his successor, Pius XI.

3.1 Peace eorts

Eugenio Pacelli at the Imperial Headquarters with the peace pro-posal of Benedict XV to Emperor William II

The war and its consequences were Benedicts main focusduring the early years of his ponticate. He declared theneutrality of the Holy See and attempted from that per-spective to mediate peace in 1916 and 1917. Both sidesrejected his initiatives.The national antagonisms between the warring partieswere accentuated by religious dierences before the war,with France, Italy and Belgium being largely Catholic.Vatican relations with Great Britain were good, while nei-ther Prussia nor Imperial Germany had any ocial re-lations with the Vatican. In Protestant circles of Ger-many, the notion was popular that the Roman CatholicPope was neutral on paper only, strongly favoring theallies instead.[24] Benedict was said to have promptedAustriaHungary to go to war in order to weaken the Ger-man war machine. Also, allegedly, the Papal Nuncio inParis explained in a meeting of the Institut Catholique,to ght against France is to ght against God,[24]" andthe Pope was said to have exclaimed that he was sorrynot to be a Frenchman.[24] The Belgian Cardinal Dsir-Joseph Mercier, known as a brave patriot during Germanoccupation but also famous for his anti-German propa-ganda, was said to have been favored by Benedict XV forhis enmity to the German cause. (After the war, Bene-dict also allegedly praised the Treaty of Versailles, whichhumiliated the Germans.[24])These allegations were rejected by the Vaticans CardinalSecretary of State Pietro Gasparri, who wrote on 4March1916 that the Holy See is completely impartial and doesnot favor the allied side. This was even more impor-tant, so Gasparri noted, after the diplomatic represen-tatives of Germany and AustriaHungary to the Vaticanwere expelled from Rome by Italian authorities.[25] How-ever, considering all this, German Protestants rejectedany Papal Peace, stating it as insulting. French politi-

cian Georges Clemenceau, a erce anti-clerical, claimedto regard the Vatican initiative as anti-French. Benedictmade many unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace, butthese pleas for a negotiated peace made him unpopular,even in Catholic countries like Italy, among many sup-porters of the war who were determined to accept nothingless than total victory.[26]

On 1 August 1917, Benedict issued a seven-point peaceplan stating that (1) the moral force of right ... be sub-stituted for the material force of arms, (2) there must besimultaneous and reciprocal diminution of armaments,(3) a mechanism for international arbitration must beestablished, (4) true liberty and common rights overthe sea should exist, (5) there should be a renuncia-tion of war indemnities, (6) occupied territories shouldbe evacuated, and (7) there should be an examination... of rival claims. Great Britain reacted favorably, butUnited States President Woodrow Wilson rejected theplan. Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary were also favorable,but Germany replied ambiguously.[27][28] Benedict alsocalled for outlawing conscription,[29] a call he repeated in1921.[30] Some of the proposals eventually were includedin Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen Points call for peace inJanuary 1918.[26][31]

In Europe, each side saw him as biased in favor of theother and was unwilling to accept the terms he proposed.Still, although unsuccessful, his diplomatic eorts duringthe war are attributed to an increase of papal prestige andserved as a model in the 20th century to the peace eortsof Pius XII before and during World War II, the policiesof Paul VI during the Vietnam War and the position ofJohn Paul II before and during the War in Iraq.[26]

In addition to his eorts in the eld of internationaldiplomacy Pope Benedict also tried to bring about peacethrough Christian faith, as he published a special prayerin 1915 to be spoken by catholic Christians throughoutthe world.[32] There is a statue in Saint Peters Basilica ofthe Ponti absorbed in prayer, kneeling on a tomb whichcommemorates a fallen soldier of the war, which he de-scribed as a useless massacre.

3.2 Humanitarian eorts

Almost from the beginning of the war, November 1914,Benedict negotiated with the warring parties about anexchange of wounded and other prisoners of war whowere unable to continue ghting. Tens of thousands ofsuch prisoners were exchanged through the interventionof Benedict XV.[25] On 15 January 1915, the Pope pro-posed an exchange of civilians from the occupied zones,which resulted in 20,000 persons being sent to unoc-cupied Southern France in one month.[25] In 1916, thePopemanaged to hammer out an agreement between bothsides, by which 29,000 prisoners with lung disease fromthe gas attacks could be sent into Switzerland.[33] In May1918, he also reached agreement that prisoners on both

3.3 After the war 5

Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli delivers packages from Benedict XV toItalian POWs in 1917

sides with at least 18months of captivity and four childrenat home would also be sent to neutral Switzerland.[25]

He succeeded in 1915 in reaching an agreement by whichthe warring parties promised not to let Prisoners of War(POWs) work on Sundays and holidays. Several individ-uals on both sides were spared the death penalty afterhis intervention. Hostages were exchanged and corpsesrepatriated.[25] The Pope founded the Opera dei Prigion-ieri to assist in distributing information on prisoners. Bythe end of the war, some 600,000 items of correspon-dence were processed. Almost a third of it concernedmissing persons. Some 40,000 people had asked for helpin the repatriation of sick POWs and 50,000 letters weresent from families to their loved ones whowere POWs.[34]

Both during and after the war, Benedict was primarilyconcerned about the fate of the children, about which heeven issued an encyclical. In 1916 he appealed to thepeople and clergy of the United States to help him feedthe starving children in German-occupied Belgium. Hisaid to children was not limited to Belgium but extendedto children in Lithuania, Poland, Lebanon, Montenegro,Syria and Russia.[35] Benedict was particularly appalled atthe new military invention of aerial warfare and protestedseveral times against it to no avail.[36]

Excerpt from the letter of Woodrow Wilson to Benedict XV.24 Dec 1918

In May and June 1915, the Ottoman Empire wageda campaign against the Armenian Christian minori-ties, which by some contemporary accounts looked likegenocide or even a holocaust in Anatolia. The Vatican at-

tempted to get Germany and AustriaHungary involvedin protesting to its Turkish ally. The Pope himself senta personal letter to the Sultan, who was also Caliph ofIslam. It had no success, as over a million Armeniansdied, either killed outright by the Turks, or as a result ofmaltreatment or from starvation.[36]

3.3 After the war

At the time, the anti-Vatican resentment, combined withItalian diplomatic moves to isolate the Vatican in lightof the unresolved Roman Question,[37] contributed to theexclusion of the Vatican from the Paris Peace confer-ence of 1919 (although it was also part of a historicalpattern of political and diplomatic marginalization of thepapacy after the loss of the papal states). Despite this, hewrote an encyclical pleading for international reconcilia-tion, Pacem, Dei Munus Pulcherrimum[38]

After the war, Benedict focused the Vaticans activities onovercoming famine and misery in Europe and establish-ing contacts and relations with the many new states whichwere created because of the demise of Imperial Russia,AustriaHungary and Germany. Large food shipmentsand information about, as well as contacts with, prisonersof war were to be the rst steps for a better understandingof the papacy in Europe.[4]

Regarding the Versailles Peace Conference, the Vaticanbelieved that the economic conditions imposed on Ger-many were too harsh and threatened the European eco-nomic stability as a whole. Cardinal Gasparri believedthat the peace conditions and the humiliation of the Ger-mans would likely result in another war as soon as Ger-many would be militarily in a position to start one.[39] TheVatican also rejected the dissolution of AustriaHungary,seeing in this step an inevitable and eventual strengthen-ing of Germany.[40] The Vatican also had great reserva-tions about the creation of small successor states which,in the view of Gasparri, were not viable economically andtherefore condemned to economic misery.[41] Benedictrejected the League of Nations as a secular organizationthat was not built on Christian values.[42] On the otherhand, he also condemned European nationalism that wasrampant in the 1920s and asked for European Unica-tion in his 1920 encyclical Pacem Dei Munus.[42]

The pope was also disturbed by the Communist rev-olution in Russia. The Pope reacted with horror tothe strongly anti-religious policies adopted by VladimirLenin's government along with the bloodshed andwidespread famine which occurred during the subsequentRussian Civil War. He undertook the greatest eorts try-ing to help the victims of the Russian famine, raisingve million in 1921 alone.[42] Following the dissolutionof the Ottoman Empire, concerns were raised in the Vat-ican about the safety and future of the Catholics in theHoly Land.

6 4 DIPLOMATIC AGENDA

4 Diplomatic agenda

Under Pope Benedict XV Cardinals Domenico Ferrata (above)and Rafael Merry del Val in 1914 switched positions in the Vat-ican

In the post-war period, Pope Benedict XV was involvedin developing the Church administration to deal with thenew international system that had emerged. The pa-pacy was faced with the emergence of numerous newstates such as Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Yugoslavia,Czechoslovakia, Finland, and others. Germany, France,Italy and Austria were impoverished from the war. In ad-dition, the traditional social and cultural European orderwas threatened by right-wing nationalism and fascism aswell as left-wing socialism and communism, all of whichpotentially threatened the existence and freedom of theChurch. To deal with these and related issues, Benedictengaged in what he knew best, a large scale diplomaticoensive to secure the rights of the faithful in all coun-tries.

4.1 ItalyLeo XIII already had agreed to the participation ofCatholics in local but not national politics. Relationswith Italy improved as well under Benedict XV, who defacto reversed the sti anti-Italian policy of his predeces-sors by allowing Catholics to participate in national elec-tions as well. This led to a surgence of the Partito Popo-lare Italiano under Luigi Sturzo. Anti-Catholic politicianswere gradually replaced by persons who were neutral oreven sympathetic to the Catholic Church. The King ofItaly himself gave signals of his desire for better rela-tions, when, for example, he sent personal condolences

to the Ponti on the death of his brother.[43] The workingconditions for Vatican sta greatly improved and feelerswere extended on both sides to solve the RomanQuestion.Benedict XV strongly supported a solution and seemed tohave had a fairly pragmatic view of the political and socialsituation in Italy at this time. Thus, while numerous tra-ditional Catholics opposed voting rights for women, thepope was in favour, arguing that, unlike the feminist pro-tagonists, most women would vote conservative and thussupport traditional Catholic positions.[44]

4.2 France

Joan of Arc enters Orlans (painting by J.J. Sherer, 1887) Joanwas canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.

Benedict XV attempted to improve relations with theanti-clerical Republican government of France. He can-onized the French national heroine Saint Joan of Arc. Inthe mission territories of the ThirdWorld, he emphasizedthe necessity of training native priests to quickly replacethe European missionaries, and founded the PonticalOriental Institute and the Coptic College in the Vatican.In 1921, France re-established diplomatic relations withthe Vatican.[45]

4.3 Soviet UnionMain article: Holy SeeSoviet Union relations

The end of the war caused the revolutionary development,

4.5 Poland 7

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri

which Benedict XV had foreseen in his rst encyclical.With the Russian Revolution, the Vatican was faced witha new, so far unknown, situation.

4.4 Lithuania and Estonia

The relations with Russia changed drastically for a sec-ond reason. The Baltic states and Poland gained theirindependence from Russia after World War I, thus en-abling a relatively free Church life in those former Russia-controlled countries. Estonia was the rst country to lookfor Vatican ties. On 11 April 1919, Cardinal Secretary ofState Pietro Gasparri informed the Estonian authoritiesthat the Vatican would agree to have diplomatic relations.A concordat was agreed upon in principle a year later inJune 1920. It was signed on 30 May 1922. It guaran-teed freedom for the Catholic Church, established arch-dioceses, liberated clergy from military service, allowedthe creation of seminaries and Catholic schools and en-shrined church property rights and immunity. The Arch-bishop swore alliance to Estonia.[46]

Relations with Catholic Lithuania were slightly morecomplicated because of the Polish occupation of Vilnius,a city and archiepiscopal seat, which Lithuania claimedas its own. Polish forces had occupied Vilnius and com-mitted acts of brutality in its Catholic seminary there.This generated several protests by Lithuania to the HolySee.[47] Relations with the Holy See were dened duringthe ponticate of Pope Pius XI (19221939)

His friend Cardinal Rampolla at age 70 shortly before his death

4.5 Poland

Before all other heads of State, Pope Benedict XVin October 1918 congratulated the Polish people ontheir independence.[48] In a public letter to ArchbishopKakowski of Warsaw, he remembered their loyalty andthe many eorts of the Holy See to assist them. Heexpressed his hopes that Poland would again take itsplace in the family of nations and continue its his-tory as an educated Christian nation.[48] In March 1919,he nominated 10 new bishops and, soon after, AchilleRatti as papal nuncio who was already in Warsaw ashis representative.[48] He repeatedly cautioned Polish au-thorities against persecuting Lithuanian and Ruthenianclergy.[49]

During the Bolshevik advance against Warsaw, he askedfor worldwide public prayers for Poland. Nuncio Rattiwas the only foreign diplomat to stay in the Polish cap-ital. On 11 June 1921, he wrote to the Polish episco-pate, warning against political misuses of spiritual power,urging again for peaceful coexistence with neighbouringpeoples, stating that love of country has its limits in jus-tice and obligations.[50] He sent nuncio Ratti to Silesiato act against potential political agitations of the Catholicclergy.[49]

Ratti, a scholar, intended to work for Poland and buildbridges to the Soviet Union, hoping even to shed his bloodfor Russia.[51] Pope Benedict XV needed him as a diplo-mat and not as a martyr and forbade any trip into the

8 5 CHURCH AFFAIRS

Benedict XV as Cardinal Della Chiesa in 1914

USSR even though he was the ocial papal delegate toRussia.[51] However, he continued his contacts with Rus-sia. This did not generate much sympathy for him withinPoland at the time. He was asked to go. While he triedhonestly to show himself as a friend of Poland, Warsawforced his departure after his neutrality in Silesian vot-ing was questioned[52] by Germans and Poles. Nation-alistic Germans objected to a Polish nuncio supervisingelections, and Poles were upset because he curtailed ag-itating clergy.[53] On 20 November, when German Car-dinal Adolf Bertram announced a papal ban on all po-litical activities of clergymen, calls for Rattis expulsionclimaxed in Warsaw.[53] Two years later, Achille Rattibecame Pope Pius XI, shaping Vatican policies towardsPoland with Pietro Gasparri and Eugenio Pacelli for thefollowing 36 years (19221958).

5 Church aairs

5.1 Theology

In internal Church aairs, Benedict XV reiterated PiusXs condemnation of Modernist scholars and the errors inmodern philosophical systems in Ad beatissimi Apostolo-rum. He declined to readmit to full communion scholarswho had been excommunicated during the previous pon-ticate. However, he calmed what he saw as the excessesof the anti-Modernist campaign within the Church. On

The handwriting of Pope Benedict XV.

25 July 1920, he wrote the motu proprio Bonum sane onSaint Joseph and against naturalism and socialism.

5.2 Canon law reformMain article: 1917 Code of Canon Law

In 1917 Benedict XV promulgated the Churchs rstCode of Canon Law, the preparation of which had beencommissioned by Pope St. Pius X, and which is thusknown as the Pio-Benedictine Code. This Code, whichentered into force in 1918, was the rst consolidation ofthe Churchs Canon Law into a modern Code made up ofsimple articles. Previously, Canon Law was dispersed ina variety of sources and partial compilations. The newCanon Law is credited with reviving religious life andproviding judicial clarity throughout the Church.[5] In ad-dition, continuing the concerns of Leo XIII, he furtheredEastern Catholic culture, theology and liturgy by found-ing an Oriental Institute for them in Rome.[5]

5.3 Catholic missionsOn 30 November 1919, Benedict XV appealed to allCatholics worldwide to sacrice for Catholic missions,stating at the same time inMaximum Illud that these mis-sions should foster local culture and not import Euro-pean cultures.[5] The damages of such cultural imports[54]were particularly grave in Africa and Asia, where manymissionaries were deported and incarcerated if they hap-pened to originate from a hostile nation.

5.4 MariologyPope Benedict personally addressed in numerous lettersthe pilgrims at Marian sanctuaries. He named Mary thePatron of Bavaria, and permitted, in Mexico, the Feastof the Immaculate Conception of Guadaloupe. He au-thorised the Feast of Mary Mediator of all Graces.[6]

9Salus Populi Romani

He condemned the misuse of Marian statues and pic-tures, dressed in priestly robes, which he outlawed 4April1916.[55]

DuringWorldWar I, Benedict placed the world under theprotection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and added the in-vocation Mary Queen of Peace to the Litany of Loreto.He promoted Marian veneration throughout the worldby elevating 20 well-known Marian shrines such as EttalAbbey in Bavaria into Basilica Minors. He also pro-motedMarian devotions inMay.[56] The dogmatic consti-tution on the Church issued by the Second Vatican Coun-cil quotes the Marian theology of Benedict XV.[57]

Pope Benedict issued an encyclical, Bonum sane on 25July 1920, encouraging devotion to Saint Joseph sincethrough S. Joseph we go directly to Mary, and throughMary to the source of every holiness, Jesus Christ, whoconsecrated the domestic virtues with his obedience to S.Joseph and Mary.[58]

He issued an encyclical on Ephraim the Syrian depictingEphraim as a model of Marian devotion, as well as theApostolic Letter, Inter Soldalica, of 22 March 1918.[59]

As the blessed Virgin Mary does not seem to par-ticipate in the public life of Jesus Christ, and then,suddenly appears at the stations of his cross, she isnot there without divine intention. She suers withher suering and dying son, almost as if she would

have died herself. For the salvation of mankind, shegave up her rights as the mother of her son and sacri-ced him for the reconciliation of divine justice, asfar as she was permitted to do. Therefore, one cansay, she redeemed with Christ the human race.[59]

6 WritingsDuring his seven-year ponticate, Benedict XV wrote atotal of twelve encyclicals. In addition to the encycli-cals mentioned, he issued In hac tanta on St. Boniface(14 May 1919), Paterno iam diu on the Children ofCentral Europe (24 November 1919), Pacem, Dei munuspulcherrimum on Peace and Christian Reconciliation (23May 1920), Spiritus Paraclitus on St. Jerome (Septem-ber 1920), Principi Apostolorum Petro on St. Ephram theSyrian (5 October 1920), Annus iam plenus also on Chil-dren in Central Europe (1 December 1920), Sacra prope-diem on the Third Order of St. Francis (6 January 1921),In praeclara Summorum on Dante (30 April 1921), andFausto appetente die on St. Dominic (29 June 1921).His Apostolic Exhortations include Ubi primum (8September 1914), Allorch fummo chiamati (28 July1915) and Ds le dbut (1 August 1917) The Papalbulls of Benedict XV include Incruentum Altaris (10 Au-gust 1915), Providentissima Mater (27 May 1917) Sedishuius (14 May 1919), and Divina disponente (16 May1920). Benedict XV issued nine Breves during his pontif-icate: Divinum praeceptum (December 1915), Romano-rum Ponticum (February 1916), Cum Catholicae Eccle-siae (April 1916), Cum Biblia Sacra (August 1916), CumCentesimus (October 1916), Centesimo Hodie (October1916), Quod Ioannes (April 1917), In Africam quisnam(June 1920), and Quod nobis in condendo (September1920).

6.1 Ad beatissimi Apostolorum

Ad beatissimi Apostolorum is an encyclical of BenedictXV given at St. Peters, Rome, on the Feast of All Saintson 1 November 1914, in the rst year of his ponticate.The rst encyclical written by Pope Benedict XV coin-cided with the beginning of World War I, which he la-beled The Suicide of Civilized Europe. Benedict XVdescribed the combatants as the greatest and wealthiestnations of the earth, stating that they are well-providedwith the most awful weapons modern military science hasdevised, and they strive to destroy one another with re-nements of horror. There is no limit to the measure ofruin and of slaughter; day by day the earth is drenchedwith newly shed blood and is covered with the bodies ofthe wounded and of the slain. [60]

In light of the senseless slaughter, the pope pled for peaceon earth to men of good will, (Luke 2:14), insisting thatthere are other ways and means whereby violated rights

10 8 PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE

can be rectied.[61]

The origin of the evil is a neglect of the precepts andpractices of Christian wisdom, particularly a lack of loveand compassion. Jesus Christ came down from Heavenfor the very purpose of restoring among men the King-dom of Peace, as He stated, A new commandment Igive unto you: That you love one another.[62] This mes-sage is repeated in John 15:12, in which Jesus says,This is my commandment that you love one another.[63]Materialism, nationalism, racism and class warfare arethe characteristics of the age instead, so Benedict XV de-scribed:

Race hatred has reached its climax; peoples aremore divided by jealousies than by frontiers; withinone and the same nation, within the same citythere rages the burning envy of class against class;and amongst individuals it is self-love which is thesupreme law over-ruling everything. [64]

6.2 Humani generis redemptionemThe encyclical Humani generis redemptionem from 15June 1917, deals with blatant ineectiveness of Christianpreaching. According to Benedict XV, there are morepreachers of the Word than ever before, but in the stateof public and private morals as well as the constitutionsand laws of nations, there is a general disregard and for-getfulness of the supernatural, a gradual falling away fromthe strict standard of Christian virtue, and that men areslipping back into the shameful practices of paganism.[65] The Pope squarely put part of the blame on thosemin-isters of the Gospel who do not handle it as they should. Itis not the times but the incompetent Christian preacherswho are to blame, for no one today can say for sure thatthe Apostles were living in better times than ours. Per-haps, the encyclical states, that the Apostles found mindsmore readily devoted to the Gospel, or they may havemet others with less opposition to the law of God.[66] Asthe encyclical tells, rst are the Catholic bishops. TheCouncil of Trent taught that preaching is the paramountduty of Bishops.[67] The Apostles, whose successors thebishops are, looked upon the Church as something theirs,for it was they who received the grace of the Holy Spirit tobegin it. Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Christ sentus not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel. [68] Coun-cil of Trent Bishops are required to select for this priestlyoce those only who are t for the position, i.e. thosewho can exercise the ministry of preaching with protto souls. Proting souls does not mean doing such elo-quently or with popular applause, but rather with spir-itual fruit. [69] The Pope requested that all the priestswho are incapable of preaching or of hearing confessionbe removed from the position.[70] The encyclical helps todraw out the message that priests must concentrate on theWord onGod and the benetting of souls before their ownselves.

6.3 Quod iam diuQuod iam diu was an encyclical given at Rome at St. Pe-ters on 1 December 1918, in the fth year of his Pontif-icate. It requested that, after World War I, all Catholicsof the world pray for a lasting peace and for those whoare entrusted to make such during peace negotiations.The pope noted that true peace has not yet arrived, but theArmistice has suspended the slaughter and devastation byland, sea and air.[71] It is the obligation of all Catholicsto invoke Divine assistance for all who take part in thepeace conference, as the encyclical states. The Popeconcludes that prayer is essential for the delegates whoare to meet to dene peace, as they are in need of muchsupport.[72]

6.4 Maximum illudMaximum illud is an apostolic letter of Benedict XV is-sued on November 30, 1919, in the sixth year of his pon-ticate. It deals with the Catholic missions after WorldWar I. Benedict XV recalled the great Apostles of theGospel who contributed much to the expansion of mis-sions. He reviewed the recent history of the missions andstated so as the purpose of the apostolic letter.[73] The en-cyclical rst turned to the bishops and superiors in chargeof the Catholic missions, noting the need to train localclergy. Catholic missionaries today continue to be re-minded that their goal is a spiritual one which must becarried out in a seless way.[74]

Benedict XV underlined the necessity of proper prepa-ration for the work in foreign cultures and the need toacquire language skills before doing such work. Herequested a continued strive for personal sanctity andpraised the seless work of the religious females inthe missions.[75] Mission, however, is not only formissionaries, but all Catholics must participate throughtheir apostolate of prayer, by supporting vocations, andby helping nancially. [76] The encyclical in concludedwith the naming of several organizations which orga-nize and supervise mission activities within the CatholicChurch.[77]

7 Beatications and canonizationsBenedict XV canonized a total of four individuals includ-ing Joan of Arc andMarguerite Marie Alacoque. He alsobeatied a total of twelve people which included OliverPlunkett and Louise de Marillac.

8 Personality and appearancePope Benedict was a slight man. He wore the smallestof three cassocks that were prepared for the election of

11

The birthplace of Pope Benedict XV in Pegli

a new pope in 1914, and became known as Il Piccol-ito or The Little Man. Benedict XV was dignied inbearing and courtly in terms of matters, but his appear-ance was not that of a pope. He had a sallow complex-ion, a mat of black hair, and prominent teeth. Everythingabout him seemed crooked, from his nose to his eyes andshoulders.[78]

He was renowned for his generosity, answering all pleasfor help from poor Roman families with large cash giftsfrom his private revenues. When he was short on money,those who would be admitted to an audience would of-ten be instructed by prelates not to mention their nan-cial woes, as Benedict would inevitably feel guilty that hecould not help the needy at the time. He also depletedthe Vaticans ocial revenues with large-scale charitableexpenditure duringWorldWar I. Upon his death, the Vat-ican Treasury had been depleted to the equivalent in Ital-ian lire of U.S. $19,000.[79]

Benedict XV was a careful innovator by Vatican stan-dards. He was known to carefully consider all noveltiesbefore he ordered their implementation, then insisting onthem to the fullest. He rejected clinging to the past forthe pasts sake with the words Let us live in the presentand not in history. [80] His relation to secular Italian pow-ers was reserved yet positive, avoiding conict and tacitlysupporting the Royal Family of Italy. Yet, like Pius IXand Leo XIII, he also protested against interventions ofState authorities in internal Church aairs.[80] Pope Bene-dict was not considered a man of letters. He did not pub-lish educational or devotional books. His encyclicals arepragmatic and down-to-earth, intelligent yet at times far-

sighted. He remained neutral during the battles of theGreat War, when almost everybody else was claimingsides. Like that of Pius XII during World War II, hisneutrality was questioned by all sides then and even tothis day.[81]

Benedict XV personally had a strong devotion to theBlessed Virgin Mary. He gave his support to an un-derstanding of Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces by ap-proving a Mass and oce under this title for the dioce-ses of Belgium. Benedict armed that together withChrist, she redeemed the human race by her immola-tion of Christ as his sorrowful mother as described in hisapostolic letter Inter Sodalicia.

9 Death and legacy

Tomb of Benedict XV in the grottoes of St. Peters Basilica inVatican City.

Benedict XV celebratedMass with the nuns at the DomusSanctae Marthae and while he waited for his driver outin the rain he fell ill with the u which turned intopneumonia. After a month of pain from which he wassaid not to recover, he succumbed to that illness on 22January 1922 at the age of 67, his nephews alongside him.After his death, ags were own at half-sta in memoryof him and as a tribute to him. His body then lay in statefor the people to see before being moved for burial in theVatican grottos.[82]

Possibly the least remembered pope of the twentieth cen-tury, Benedict XV is nevertheless an unsung hero forhis valiant eorts to end World War I. In 2005, PopeBenedict XVI recognized the signicance of his long-agopredecessors commitment to peace by taking the samename upon his own rise to the ponticate. Benedict XVwas unique in his humane approach to the world in 19141918, which starkly contrasted with that of the other greatmonarchs and leaders of the time. His worth is reectedin the tribute engraved at the foot of the statue that the

12 13 REFERENCES

Turks, a non-Catholic, non-Christian people, erected ofhim in Istanbul: The great Pope of the world tragedy...the benefactor of all people, irrespective of nationality orreligion. This monument stands in the courtyard of theSt. Esprit Cathedral.

10 Views of successors

10.1 Pius XII

Pope Pius XII showed high regard for Benedict XV,who had consecrated him a bishop on 13 May 1917, thevery day of the rst reported apparitions of Our Ladyof Fatima. While Pius XII considered another Benedict,Benedict XIV in terms of his sanctity and scholarly con-tributions to be worthy as Doctor of the Church,[83] hethought that Benedict XV during his short ponticate wastruly a man of God, who worked for peace.[84] He helpedprisoners of war and many others who needed help indire times and was extremely generous to Russia.[85] Hepraised him as aMarian Pope who promoted the devotionto Our Lady of Lourdes,[86] for his encyclicals Ad beatis-simi Apostolorum, Humani generis redemptionem, Quodiam diu, and Spiritus Paraclitus, and, for the codicationof Canon Law,[87] which under della Chiesa and PietroGasparri, he as Eugenio Pacelli had the opportunity toparticipate in.

10.2 Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI showed his own admiration for Bene-dict XV following his election to the papacy on 19 April2005. The election of a new Pope is often accompa-nied by conjecture over his choice of papal name; it iswidely believed that a Pope chooses the name of a prede-cessor whose teachings and legacy he wishes to continue.Ratzingers choice of Benedict was seen as a signal thatBenedict XVs views on humanitarian diplomacy, and hisstance against relativism and modernism, would be emu-lated during the reign of the new Pope.During his rst General Audience in St. Peters Square on27 April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to Bene-dict XV when explaining his choice: Filled with senti-ments of awe and thanksgiving, I wish to speak of why Ichose the name Benedict. Firstly, I remember Pope Bene-dict XV, that courageous prophet of peace, who guided theChurch through turbulent times of war. In his footsteps Iplace my ministry in the service of reconciliation and har-mony between peoples.

11 See also List of encyclicals of Pope Benedict XV

Statue of Benedict XV in the courtyard of St. Esprit Cathedral,Istanbul.

List of meetings between the Pope and the Presidentof the United States

Cardinals created by Benedict XV

12 Notes[1] English: James Paul John Baptist della Chiesa

13 References[1] Miranda, Salvador. Della Chiesa, Giacomo, The Car-

dinals of the Holy Roman Church, Florida InternationalUniversity

[2] CHIESA 1922 GENNAIO. Araldicavaticana.com. Re-trieved 2013-04-22.

[3] Franzen 379

[4] Franzen 380

[5] Franzen 382

[6] AAS 1921, 345

[7] George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy: The Families andDescendants of the Popes (2004:133)

[8] De Waal 7

[9] De Waal 1415

13

[10] De Waal 19

[11] De Waal 43

[12] Pollard 15

[13] De Waal 68

[14] De Waal 70

[15] De Waal 82

[16] De Waal 102

[17] De Waal 100

[18] De Waal 121

[19] 1913

[20] De Waal 110

[21] De Waal 117

[22] De Waal 124

[23] Note on numbering: Pope Benedict X is now consideredan antipope. At the time, however, this status was not rec-ognized, and so the man the Roman Catholic church o-cially considers the tenth true Pope Benedict took the o-cial number XI, rather thanX. This has advanced the num-bering of all subsequent Popes Benedict by one. PopesBenedict XI-XVI are, from an ocial point of view, thetenth through fteenth popes by that name. In otherwords, there is no legitimate Pope Benedict X.

[24] Conrad Grber, Handbuch der Religisen Gegenwartsfra-gen, Herder Freiburg, Germany 1937, 493

[25] Grber 495

[26] Pollard, 136

[27] John R. Smestad Jr., Europe 19141945: Attempts atPeace, Loyola University New Orleans The Student His-torical Journal 19941995 Vol XXVI.

[28] Five of seven points of Benedict XVs peace plan.

[29] Pope in New Note to Ban Conscription, New YorkTimes, 23 September 1917, A1

[30] Pope would clinch peace. Urges abolition of conscriptionas way to disarmament , New York Times, 16 November1921, from Associated Press report.

[31] Popes Name Pays Homage To Benedict XV, Took Inspi-ration From An Anti-War Ponti, WCBSTV, 20 April2005.

[32] Prayer for Peace from Pope Benedict. Chicago Tribune.1915-03-14. Retrieved 2015-03-01.

[33] Pollard 114

[34] Pollard 113

[35] Pollard 115

[36] Pollard 116

[37] Pollard 141

[38] DEI MUNUS PULCHERRIMUM ENCYCLICAL OFPOPE BENEDICT XV ON PEACE AND CHRIS-TIAN RECONCILIATION TO THE PATRIARCHS,PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND ORDI-NARIES IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THEHOLY SEE

[39] Pollard 144

[40] Pollard, 145

[41] Pollard 145

[42] Pollard 147

[43] Pollard 163

[44] Pollard 174

[45] Franzen 381,

[46] Schmidlin III, 305

[47] Schmidlin III, 306.



[50] AAS 1921, 566

[51] Stehle 25

[52] Stehle 26

[53] Schmidlin IV, 15

[54] World War One

[55] AAS 1916 146 Baumann in Marienkunde; 673

[56] Schmidlin 179339

[57] C VII, 50

[58] Pope Benedict XV, Bonum Sane, 4, Vatican, 25 July1920

[59] AAS, 1918, 181

[60] Ad beatissimi Apostolorum, 3


[62] (John 14:34);

[63] (John 15:12);


[65] Humani generis redemptionem 2


[67] [Sess., xxiv, De. Ref., c.iv]

[68] [I Cor. i:17]



14 14 EXTERNAL LINKS

[71] Quod iam diu, 1

[72] Quod iam diu, 2

[73] Maximum illud, 57



[76] Maximum Illud 3036


[78] Alleged The Pope andMussolini: The Secret History of PiusXI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe: David I. Kertzer.Amazon. ISBN 0812993462.

[79] Michael Burleigh, Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religionand Politics from the Great War to the War on Terror,HarperCollins, 2007, p.70.

[80] De Waal 122

[81] Pollard 86

[82] Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922)". Find a Grave. 27November 2001. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

[83] Pio XII, Discorsi, Roma 19391958, Vol. VIII, 419

[84] Discorsi, I 300

[85] Discorsi, II 346

[86] Discorsi XIX, 877

[87] Discorsi XIII,133

Peters, Walter H. The Life of Benedict XV. 1959.Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company.

Daughters of St. Paul. Popes of the Twentieth Cen-tury. 1983. Pauline Books and Media

Pollard, John F. The Unknown Pope. 1999. Lon-don: Georey Chapman

14 External links Pope Benedict XVI. (German) Vatican website: Benedict XV; texts of encyclicalsetc.

Tomb of Benedict XV Vatican Grottoes New Catholic Dictionary: Benedict XV Canonization of Joan of Arc: by Benedict XV Memorial Page for Benedict XV FirstWorldWar.com: Whos Who TheCardinals of theHoly RomanChurch: GiacomoDella Chiesa

Pathe News archive lm of Benedict XV

15

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Early lifeBologna Archbishop Cardinal

Pontificate Peace efforts Humanitarian efforts After the war

Diplomatic agenda Italy France Soviet Union Lithuania and Estonia Poland

Church affairs Theology Canon law reform Catholic missions Mariology

Writings Ad beatissimi Apostolorum Humani generis redemptionem Quod iam diu Maximum illud

Beatifications and canonizationsPersonality and appearance Death and legacy Views of successors Pius XII Benedict XVI

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Pope Benedict XV