Pius XII today is often
associated with the
debate surrounding his
assistance to Jews
during World War II. But
as his first encyclical
turned 70 this month, a
conference was held to
reflect on one of the
truly momentous
contributions of this
Pope to history:
his Marian devotion and
doctrine.
Special veneration of
the Mother of Jesus made
its greatest impact in
the first half of the
20th century,
to the point that
Blessed John XXIII would
refer to it as the age
of Mary. The
Pontiff's devotion was
also expressed through a
series of official
events (Roschini lists
400 documents) whose
objective was
to promote Mary's
presence in the life and
thought of the Church.
The noteworthy events of
Pius XII's Marian
magisterium are
numerous. There is the
famous encyclical "Mystici
Corporis Christi" (of
June 29, 1943), in which
the Pope specifies the
Virgin's place in the
Mystical Body of Christ,
presenting her as "alma
socia Christi," that is,
Mother associated to the
Son in all his
redemptive work.
He was the Pope
to
consecrate the world to
the Immaculate Heart of
Mary (on Oct. 31, 1942),
thus heeding the request
of the Portuguese
episcopate on the 25th
anniversary of the
apparitions of the
Virgin in Fatima.
At the height of the
War, the Pope
invoked Mary as "refuge
of the human race" and
entrusted the whole
world to her maternal
protection. Pius
XII
reiterated this act of
confidence in Jesus'
Mother consecrating
Russia to her in 1952
and Spain in 1954.
As a continuation
of these gestures, Pius
XII
established the feast of
the Immaculate Heart of
Mary in the universal
Church on March 4, 1944.
This Marian Year
was solemnly opened Dec.
8, 1953, in St. Mary
Major, and closed in St.
Peter's on Nov. 1, 1954,
with the crowning of the
Salus populi romani
[salvation of the Roman
people] icon of Mary and
with the institution of
the feast of
Mary Queen of Heaven.
Father De Fiores
explained to ZENIT that
"Pius XII will remain in
the history of the
Catholic faith above all
for the dogmatic
definition of Mary's
assumption in body and
soul to heaven."
The Nov. 1, 1950,
proclamation was a
memorable event in the
history of the Church,
which Pius XII himself
interpreted with these
words:
"As though shaken by the
beat of your hearts and
by the commotion of your
lips, the very stones of
this patriarchal
basilica vibrate and
together with them it
seems the innumerable
and ancient churches cry
out with mysterious
trembling, raised
everywhere in honor of
the Assumption."
