Categories
- Evangelization
- School of Prayer
- Worship
- Healing and Revealing
- Catholic Renewal
- Spiritual Warfare
- Apologetics
- Obstacles on the way to God
- Reading the Bible
- Sense of life
- Covenant with God
- Community
- Catholic Church
- Business and Christianity
- Family
- Witnesses of Faith
- Danger: Occultism
- Attention! Sects
Pontiff Highlights Other Aspects Of Pius Xii
10-10-2008
Says His Many Writings Are Weighty and Relevant
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The debates raging around Pius XII, and whether he did or said enough during World War II, overshadow the multifaceted aspects of his pontificate, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today during the homily he gave at a Mass said in St. Peter's to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII.
"The historical debate on the figure of the Servant of God Pius XII, which has not always been the calmest, has prevented us shining a light on all the aspects of his multifaceted Pontificate," the Pope said.
"There was a great multitude of speeches, addresses and messages delivered to scientists, doctors, and representatives of the most varied categories of workers, some of which even today still possess an extraordinary relevance and continue to be a concrete point of reference," he added.
Benedict XVI noted that Paul VI described his predecessor as an "erudite man, an attentive scholar, open to modern means of research and culture, with an ever-strong and coherent fidelity both to the principles of human reasoning, as well as to the intangible depository of the truth of faith. He considered him a precursor of Vatican Council II."
The current Pontiff said many of Pius XII's writings deserved to be remembered, but only mentioned a few, beginning with the encyclical "Mystici Corporis," published in 1943.
"While war still raged," the Pope said, "he described the spiritual and visible relationships that unite men to the Word Incarnate, and he proposed integrating into this point of view all the principle themes of ecclesiology, offering for the first time a dogmatic and theological synthesis that would provide the basis for the Conciliar dogmatic constitution 'Lumen Gentium.'"
Scripture
The Holy Father said in his encyclical "Divino Afflante Spiritu," published also in 1943, Pius XII "laid down the doctrinal norms for the study of sacred Scripture, highlighting its importance and role in Christian life."
The Pope said that encyclical, which "bears witness to a great opening to scientific research on the biblical texts," is fitting to remember as the world Synod of Bishops on the Word of God is taking place.
He explained: "It is to the prophetic intuition of Pius XII that we owe the launch of a serious study of the characteristics of ancient historiography, in order to better understand the nature of the sacred books, without weakening or negating their historical value.
"The deeper study of the 'literary genres,' whose intention is to better understand what the sacred author meant, was viewed with a certain suspicion prior to
"The encyclical recognized that it could be applied correctly, declaring its use legitimate not only for the study of the Old Testament, but also the New. "
Benedict XVI also mentioned the encyclical dedicated to liturgy, "Mediator Dei," published in 1947: "With this document, the Servant of God provided an impulse to the liturgical movement."
The Pope acknowledged "the notable impulse this Pontiff gave to the Church's missionary activity with the Encyclicals 'Evangelii Praecones' (1951) and 'Fidei Donum' (1957), that highlighted the duty of every community to announce the Gospel to the peoples, as Vatican II would go on to do with courageous strength."
