Pope Benedict XV

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Benedict XV
Birth name	Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa
Papacy began	September 3, 1914
Papacy ended	January 22, 1922
Predecessor	Pius X
Successor	Pope Pius XI
Born	November 21, 1854(1854-11-21) Genoa, Italy
Died	January 22, 1922 (aged 67) Apostolic Palace, Rome, Italy
Other popes named Benedict

Pope Benedict XV (Latin: Benedictus PP. XV), (Italian: Benedetto XV), (November 21, 1854 – January 22, 1922), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from September 3, 1914 to January 22, 1922; he succeeded Pope Pius X (1903–14).

Contents 1 Early life 2 Pontificate 3 Death and Legacy 4 Pope Benedict XVI 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life

The last of the "noble papal family" popes, Giacomo della Chiesa was born at Pegli, a suburb of Genoa, Italy, the son of marchese Giuseppe della Chiesa and his wife marchesa Giovanna Migliorati.^[1] He acquired a doctorate of law in 1875, after which he studied for the priesthood. He was ordained priest on December 21, 1878. Shortly after ordination, he began studies at the training school for the Vatican diplomatic service, in which he would spend most of his career. Once he had entered the diplomatic service, Mariano Cardinal Rampolla was a friend and patron, employing him as a secretary on being posted to Madrid and subsequently on being appointed Cardinal Secretary of State. 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. When Rampolla left his post with the election of Pope Pius X, and was succeeded by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, Della Chiesa was retained in his post.

But 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 (with its more strongly uncompromising foreign policy) somewhat uncomfortable. He was soon moved out of the diplomatic service, on 18 December 1907 becoming Archbishop of Bologna.

On 25 May 1914 Della Chiesa was created a cardinal, becoming Cardinal Priest of the titulus Ss. Quattuor Coronatorum. In this capacity, on the outbreak of World War I (1914–18) – with the papacy vacant upon Pius X's death on 20 August 1914 – he made a speech on the Church's position and duties, emphasising the need for neutrality and promoting peace and the easing of suffering. The 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.^[2]

[edit] Pontificate

Styles of Pope Benedict XV
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	none

Benedict XV's pontificate was dominated by World War I, which he termed "the suicide of Europe", and its turbulent aftermath. Benedict's first encyclical extended a heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities. His early call for a Christmas truce in 1914 was ignored. The Pope organized significant humanitarian efforts (establishing a Vatican bureau, for instance, to help prisoners of war from all nations contact their families) and 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. His best known intervention was the seven-point Papal Peace proposal of August 1917, demanding a cessation of hostilities, a reduction of armaments, guaranteed freedom of the seas, and international arbitration. Only Woodrow Wilson responded directly, declaring that a declaration of peace was premature; in Europe each side saw him as biased in favour of the other and were unwilling to accept the terms he proposed. This resentment 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 ^[3] 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".

In the post-war period Benedict was involved in developing the Church administration to deal with the new international system that had emerged.

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, and 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.

The Pope was also disturbed by the Communist revolution in Russia. The Pope reacted with horror to the strongly anti-religious policies adopted by Lenin's government and the bloodshed and widespread famine which occurred during the subsequent Russian Civil War.

Benedict XV also promulgated a new Code of Canon Law in 1917 and attempted to improve relations with the anticlerical 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 replace the European missionaries as soon as possible, and founded the Pontifical Oriental Institute of Studies and the Coptic College in the Vatican.

On 25 July 1920 he wrote the motu proprio Bonum sane on Saint Joseph and against naturalism.

In physical appearance, Benedict XV was a slight man (the smallest of the three cassocks which had been prepared for whoever the new Pope might be in 1914 was still a good deal too big for him). As a result, he became known as "Il Piccolito" or "The Little Man" 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 bad that he could not help the needy. He also depleted the Vatican's official revenues with large-scale charitable expenditure during World War I. On his death, the Vatican Treasury had been depleted to the equivalent in lire of U.S.$19,000. (Reference: Michael Burleigh, Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics from the Great War to the War on Terror, HarperCollins, 2007, p.70). Money had to be borrowed to pay for his funeral expenses.

Benedict XV had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and like all the modern Popes encouraged the wearing of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He endorsed the belief that wearing it piously brings "the singular privilege of protection after death" from eternal damnation, and granted an indulgence for every time it was kissed. He also added the title 'Queen of Peace' to her Litany, 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) and affirmed that "together with Christ she redeemed the human race" by her immolation of Christ as his sorrowful mother (in his apostolic letter Inter sodalicia).

[edit] Death and Legacy

Benedict XV fell ill with pneumonia in early January 1922. He succumbed to pneumonia on January 22.

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. Benedict XV was unique in his humane approach in the world of 1914–1918, which starkly contrasts 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.

[edit] Pope Benedict XVI

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger showed his own admiration for Benedict XV following his election to the Papacy on April 19, 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 April 27, 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."

It has been reported that the relatively short 20th century reign of Benedict XV was another reason for the choice.

[edit] See also

• List of encyclicals of Pope Benedict XV

[edit] Notes

[edit] 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

[edit] External links

• Pope Benedict XV (German)
• Vatican website: Benedict XV; texts of encyclicals etc.
• Benedict XV's five point peace plan
• 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: Who's Who
• The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Giacomo Della Chiesa

Episcopal Lineage
Consecrated by:	Pope Pius X
Date of consecration:	December 22, 1907
Consecrator of
Bishop	Date of consecration
Sebastiano Nicotra	1917
Eugenio Pacelli	May 13, 1917
Willem Cardinal van Rossum	May 19, 1918
Ersilio Menzani	January 25, 1921
Federico Tedeschini	May 5, 1921
Carlo Cremonesi	January 8, 1922

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Domenico Cardinal Svampa	Archbishop of Bologna 1907 – 1914	Succeeded by Giorgio Cardinal Gusmini
Preceded by Pius X	Pope 1914 – 1922	Succeeded by Pius XI

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