Editing Pope Pius XII (section)

===Late years of Pope Pius XII===
{{Main|Late years of Pope Pius XII}}
A long illness in late 1954 caused the pope to consider [[Papal renunciation|abdication]]. Afterwards, changes in his work habit became noticeable. The Pope avoided long ceremonies, canonizations and consistories and displayed hesitancy in personnel matters. He found it increasingly difficult to chastise subordinates and appointees such as his physician, [[Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi]], who after numerous indiscretions was excluded from papal service for the last years, but, keeping his title, was able to enter the papal apartments to photograph the dying pope, which he sold to French magazines.<ref>Schneider, p. 80</ref> Pius underwent three courses of [[Rejuvenation (aging)|cellular rejuvenation]] treatment administered by [[Paul Niehans]], the most important in 1954 when Pius was gravely ill. Side-effects of the treatment included hallucinations, from which the Pope suffered in his last years. "These years were also plagued by horrific nightmares. Pacelli's blood-curdling screams could be heard throughout the papal apartments."<ref>Gerard Noel, ''Pius XII, The Hound of Hitler'', p. 3</ref>

Pius XII often elevated young priests as bishops, such as [[Julius Döpfner]] (35 years) and Karol Wojtyła (later [[Pope John Paul II]], 38 years), one of his last appointees in 1958. He took a firm stand against pastoral experiments, such as "[[worker-priest]]s", who worked full-time in factories and joined political parties and unions. He continued to defend the theological tradition of [[Thomism]] as worthy of continued reform, and as superior to modern trends such as [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] or [[existentialism]].<ref>See ''[[Humani generis]]''.</ref>