Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII (Latin: Pius PP. XII; Italian: Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, reigned as Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958.
Before election to the papacy, Pacelli served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio 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. His leadership of the Catholic Church during World War II remains the subject of continued historical controversy.
After the war, Pius XII contributed to the rebuilding of Europe, and advocated peace
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His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays, apologetics, devotional works and articles. He continued his writing career at the same time as he progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911, and gain the title of Monsignor before his death a few years later. -
Pope Pius XI
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Pius XI issued numerous encyclicals, including Quadragesimo Anno , in the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's groundbreaking social encyclical Rerum Novarum, highlighting the capitalistic greed of international finance, and social justice issues, and Quas primas, establishing the feast of Christ the King. The encyclical Studiorum Ducem, promulgated 29 June 1923, was written on the occasion of the 6th centenary -
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He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant'Agata dei Goti. A prolific writer, he published nine editions of his "Moral Theology" in his lifetime, in addition to other devotional and ascetic works and letters. Among his best known works are "The Glories of Mary" and "The Way of the Cross", the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions.
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Catholic Church
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Originally Joseph Ratzinger , a noted conservative theologian before his election in 2005, Benedict XVI strove against the influence of secularism during his papacy to defend traditional Catholic teachings but since medieval times first resigned in 2013.
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After Joseph Ratzinger served a long career as an academic and a professor at the University of Regensburg, Pope Paul VI appointed him as archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal in 1977. In 1981, he settled in Rome as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, one most important office of the Roman curia. He also served as dean of the college of cardinals.
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Pope John Paul II
Saint Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.
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Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes.
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Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) was the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, a title he held ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis was the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III, who died in 741.
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Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technologist and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's provincial superior of the -
Pope Boniface VIII
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Boniface VIII put forward some of the strongest claims of any pope to temporal as well as spiritual power. He involved himself often with foreign affairs, including in France, Sicily, Italy and the First War of Scottish Independence. These views, and his chronic intervention in "temporal" affairs, led to many bitter quarrels with Albert I of Germany, Philip IV of France, -
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council (Latin: Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum, informally known as Vatican II) addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first ecumenical council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The council, through the Holy See, formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8th December 1965.
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Several changes resulted from the council, including the renewal of consecrated life with a revised charism, ecumenical efforts towards dialogue with other religions, and the call to holiness for everyone including the laity, a -
John of the Cross
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Michael Treharne Davies
Michael Treharne Davies (1936-2004) was a convert from Anglicanism to the Catholic Church in the 1950s, and was a Catholic writer who authored various works following the Second Vatican Council, in addition to unifying Una Voce America, a conservative group. He went on to compose such works as The Liturgical Revolution, The Order of Melchisedech, Partisans of Error, For Altar and Throne,, and The Wisdom of Adrian Fortescue. Upon Davies' death in 2004, Pope Benedict XVI called him a man of deep faith who was ready to embrace suffering
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Pope John XXIII
Pope Saint John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes XXIII), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli reigned from 28 October 1958 to his death in 1963.
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He was ordained a priest on 10 August 1904 and served in a number of posts, including papal nuncio in France and a delegate to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. In a consistory on 12 January 1953 Pope Pius XII made Roncalli a cardinal as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca in addition to naming him the Patriarch of Venice.
Roncalli was elected pope on 28 October 1958 at age 77 after 11 ballots. His selection was unexpected, and Roncalli himself had come to Rome with a return train ticket to Venice. He was the first pope to take the pontifical name of "John" upon election in more than 500 years, and his choice settled the c -
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX, born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, reigned as Pope from 16 June 1846 to his death in 1878. He was the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church – over 31 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council (1869–70), which decreed papal infallibility, but the council was cut short due to the loss of the Papal States.
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Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, meaning that Mary was conceived without original sin. Pius IX also conferred the title Our Mother of Perpetual Help on a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorists.
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Pope Benedict XV
Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on 3 September 1914 under the name Benedict XV, sponsored relief efforts of World War I and sought to mediate peace. He promulgated a major revision to the Code of Canon Law from 27 May 1917, which is considered to have stimulated religious life and activities throughout the Church.
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Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII, born Benedetto Caetani, (c.1230 - 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death, in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial origin, with connections to the papacy. He succeeded Pope Celestine V, who had abdicated from the papal throne. Boniface spent his early career abroad in diplomatic roles.
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Boniface VIII put forward some of the strongest claims of any pope to temporal as well as spiritual power. He involved himself often with foreign affairs, including in France, Sicily, Italy and the First War of Scottish Independence. These views, and his chronic intervention in "temporal" affairs, led to many bitter quarrels with Albert I of Germany, Philip IV of France, -
Francis Xavier Lasance
Francis Xavier Lasance [F. X. Lasance] was an American priest and writer of Roman Catholic devotional works.
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Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was the son of Augustine and Philamena (Detert) Lasance. He was educated at St. Mary's School and St. Xavier College (Cincinnati) and St. Meinrad Archabbey (Indiana), and was ordained by the Most Reverend William Henry Elder, Archbishop of Cincinnati, on May 24, 1883.
During the next seven years, Lasance served as curate in various parishes in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati including churches in Kenton, Reading, Dayton, Lebanon, and Monroe, Ohio. He also served as chaplain at Our Lady's Summit, in East Walnut Hills, in Cincinnati. Ill health forced him to relinquish parish work in 1890; from then on, he live