Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli was born on the second day of Lent, 2 March 1876, in Rome into an upper class family of intense Catholic piety with a history of ties to the … See more

Election and coronation
Pope Pius XI died on 10 February 1939. Several historians have interpreted the conclave to choose … See more

Liturgy reforms
In his encyclical Mediator Dei, Pius XII links liturgy with the last will of Jesus Christ.
But it is His will, that the worship He instituted and practised during His life on earth shall continue … See more

Pius XII explained the Catholic faith in 41 encyclicals and almost 1000 messages and speeches during his long pontificate. Mystici Corporis Christi clarified membership and participation in the church. The encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu See more

Priest and monsignor
While all other candidates from the Rome diocese were ordained in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Pacelli was ordained a priest on See more

Decentralized authority and increased independence of the Uniate Churches were aimed at in the Canon Law/Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC) reform. In its new constitutions, Eastern Patriarchs were made almost independent from Rome (CIC Orientalis, … See more

Pope Pius XII canonized numerous people, including Pope Pius X—"both were determined to stamp out, as far as possible, all traces of dangerous heterodoxy" —and Maria Goretti. He beatified Pope Innocent XI. The first canonizations were … See more