Editing Pope Benedict XV (section)

== Personality and appearance ==
[[File:Bata Shoe Museum - Pope Benedict XV's shoes (91324).jpg|thumb|Pope Benedict XV's [[papal shoes]] in the [[Bata Shoe Museum]]]]
Pope Benedict XV was a slight man. He wore the smallest of three cassocks that were prepared for the election of a new pope in 1914, and became known as "Il Piccoletto" or "The Little Man". The cassock he wore upon his election had to be quickly stitched up so it could properly fit him. The new pope jokingly said to the tailors: "My dear, had you forgotten me?" He was dignified in bearing and courtly in terms of manners, but his appearance was not that of a pope. He had a sallow complexion, a mat of black hair, and prominent teeth.<ref name=Kertzer>{{cite book|last=Kertzer|first=David I.|author-link=David Kertzer|title=The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xc3QAgAAQBAJ|isbn=978-0-19-871616-7}}</ref> He himself had referred to his appearance as an "ugly gargoyle upon the buildings of Rome". It was even said that his father looked upon his newborn son with incredulity and turned away in dismay at the sight of the infant della Chiesa, due to the small, bluish pallor and frail appearance of the infant.<ref name=Mag />

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 guilty that he could not help the needy at the time. He also depleted the Vatican's official revenues with large-scale charitable expenditure during World War I. Upon his death, the Vatican Treasury had been depleted to the equivalent in [[Italian lira]] of U.S. $19,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|19000|1922|r=-2}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}).<ref>[[Michael Burleigh]], ''Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics from the Great War to the War on Terror'', HarperCollins, 2007, p. 70.</ref>

Benedict XV was a careful innovator by Vatican standards. He was known to carefully consider all novelties before he ordered their implementation, then insisting on them to the fullest. He rejected clinging to the past for the past's sake with the words "Let us live in the present and not in history."<ref name="De Waal 122">De Waal 122</ref> His relation to secular Italian powers was reserved yet positive, avoiding conflict and tacitly supporting the Royal Family of Italy. Yet, like [[Pius IX]] and [[Leo XIII]], he also protested against interventions of State authorities in internal Church affairs.<ref name="De Waal 122" /> Pope Benedict was not considered a man of letters. He did not publish educational or devotional books. His encyclicals are pragmatic and down-to-earth, intelligent and at times far-sighted. He remained neutral during the battles of the "Great War," when almost everybody else was claiming "sides." Like that of [[Pius XII]] during World War II, his neutrality was questioned by all sides then and even to this day.<ref>Pollard 86 ff</ref>