Pope Pius XII

Pope Venerable Pius XII
Bishop of Rome
Papacy began	2 March 1939
Papacy ended	9 October 1958
Predecessor	Pius XI
Successor	John XXIII
Orders
Ordination	2 April 1899 by Francesco di Paola Cassetta
Consecration	13 May 1917 by Benedict XV
Created Cardinal	16 December 1929 by Pius XI
Personal details
Birth name	Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli
Born	(1876-03-02)2 March 1876 Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Died	9 October 1958(1958-10-09) (aged 82) Castel Gandolfo, Italy
Previous post	Pro-Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1912–1914) Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1914–1917) Titular Archbishop of Sardes (1917–1929) Apostolic Nuncio to Germany (1917–1930) Apostolic Nuncio to Prussia (1926–1929) Cardinal-Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (1929–1939) Prefect of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1930–1939) Archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica (1930–1939) Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber (1935–1939)
Motto	Opus Justitiae Pax ("The work of justice [shall be] peace" [Is. 32: 17])
Signature
Coat of arms
Sainthood
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Title as Saint	Venerable

Papal styles of Pope Pius XII
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	Venerable

Opus Justitiae Pax

Pope Pius XII (Italian: Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (Italian pronunciation: [euˈdʒɛːnjo maˈriːa dʒuˈzɛppe dʒoˈvanni paˈtʃɛlli]; 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958), reigned as Pope from 2 March 1939 to his death in 1958. Before his election to the papacy, Pacelli served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany (1917–1929), and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with European and Latin American nations, most notably the Reichskonkordat with Nazi Germany, with which most historians believe the Vatican sought to protect the Church in Germany while Adolf Hitler sought the destruction of "political Catholicism". A pre-war critic of Nazism, Pius XII lobbied world leaders to avoid war and, as Pope at the outbreak of war, issued Summi Pontificatus, expressing dismay at the invasion of Poland, reiterating Church teaching against racial persecution and calling for love, compassion and charity to prevail over war.

While the Vatican was officially neutral during the war, Pius XII maintained links to the German Resistance, used diplomacy to aid the victims of the war and lobby for peace, and spoke out against race-based murders and other atrocities. The Reichskonkordat of 1933 and Pius's leadership of the Catholic Church during World War II remain the subject of controversy—including allegations of public silence and inaction about the fate of the Jews. After the war Pius XII advocated peace and reconciliation, including lenient policies towards Axis and Axis-satellite nations. The Church experienced severe persecution and mass deportations of Catholic clergy in the Eastern Bloc. Pius XII was a staunch opponent of Communism and of the Italian Communist Party. He explicitly invoked ex cathedra papal infallibility with the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in his 1950 Apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus. His magisterium includes almost 1,000 addresses and radio broadcasts. His forty-one encyclicals include Mystici corporis, the Church as the Body of Christ; Mediator Dei on liturgy reform; and Humani generis on the Church's positions on theology and evolution. He eliminated the Italian majority in the College of Cardinals in 1946.