Editing Pope Benedict XV (section)

== Pontificate ==
{{Infobox popestyles
| image      =C o a Benedictus XV.svg
| dipstyle=[[His Holiness]]
| offstyle=Your Holiness
| relstyle=Holy Father
| deathstyle=None
}}

=== Election to the Papacy ===
{{Main|Papal conclave, 1914}}
Following the death of [[Pope Pius X|Pius X]], the resulting conclave opened at the end of August 1914. The war would clearly be the dominant issue of the new pontificate, so the cardinals' priority was to choose a man with great diplomatic experience. Thus on 3 September 1914, della Chiesa, despite having been a cardinal only three months, was elected pope, taking the name of Benedict XV. He chose the name because of his devotion to [[Benedict of Nursia|St. Benedict of Nursia]],<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 1921 |title=Holy Father blesses Benedictine Order |journal=The Grail |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=232}}</ref> perhaps also in honour of [[Pope Benedict XIV]], who had been an archbishop from Bologna.<ref>Note on numbering: [[Antipope Benedict X|Pope Benedict X]] is now considered an [[antipope]]. At the time, however, this status was not recognized, and so the man the Catholic Church officially considers the [[Pope Benedict XI|tenth true Pope Benedict]] took the official number XI, rather than X. This has advanced the numbering of all subsequent Popes Benedict by one. Popes Benedict XI–XVI are, from an official point of view, the tenth through fifteenth popes by that name. In other words, there is no legitimate Pope Benedict X.</ref> Upon being elected pope, he was also formally the Grand Master of the Equestrian [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre]] of Jerusalem, [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office]] and [[Congregation for Bishops|prefect of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation]]. There was, however, a Cardinal-Secretary to run these bodies on a day-to-day basis.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Due to the enduring [[Roman Question]], after the announcement of his election to the papacy by the Cardinal [[Protodeacon]], Benedict XV, following in the footsteps of his two most recent predecessors, did not appear on the balcony of St. Peter's basilica overlooking St. Peter's Square to grant the ''[[urbi et orbi]]'' blessing. Benedict XV was [[Papal coronation|crowned]] in the [[Sistine Chapel]] on 6 September 1914, and, also as a form of protest due to the [[Roman question]], there was no ceremony for the formal possession of the [[Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran]].{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

[[File:Bene15coronation1914.jpg|thumb|left|Coronation of Pope Benedict XV in 1914]]

In the 1914 conclave, the cardinals were divided into two factions: the "reactionaries" and the "conservatives". The decade-long campaign waged against Modernism cast a cloud over the conclave, and also ensured on the part of the deceased pontiff that there were fewer moderate and progressive cardinals in the Sacred College. However, the cardinals feared that one of the sides in World War I might potentially influence the conclave to elect a pope that would prove amenable to their side and their positions. While the cardinals expressed relief in the abolition of [[Jus exclusivae|the veto]] in 1904, there was still a palpable fear that there would be subtle attempts to exert control over the cardinals, hence, deep suspicion in many cardinals of their European colleagues. During the conclave, Cardinal [[Domenico Serafini]] and his faction had enough votes to ensure that della Chiesa was not elected, particularly since the eighth ballot had della Chiesa with a majority, though below the two-thirds needed for election.<ref name=SV>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1914.html|title=Sede Vacante 1914|publisher=|author=John Paul Adams|date=2007|access-date=12 February 2022}}</ref>

While Serafini was considered "''[[papabile]]''" due to his position at the Holy Office, and his alignment with the policies of Pius X, other cardinals such as [[Andrea Carlo Ferrari]] and [[Désiré-Joseph Mercier]] believed that the new pope needed to focus not on Modernism and doctrinal debates, but rather, a softer focus after the somewhat harsh reign of Pius X. To that end, those cardinals turned towards electing the liberal [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pisa|Archbishop of Pisa]] [[Pietro Maffi]]. Della Chiesa, on the other hand, was wedged between Maffi and Serafini as representing the best and worst of both factions, hence his contention in the balloting. While della Chiesa seemed to secure support from some conservative cardinals, Maffi lagged considerably and hence Serafini was positioned as della Chiesa's main rival. Since Maffi had lagged in the balloting, his supporters decided to counter Serafini and threw their support for della Chiesa, securing his election by only one vote in what was a protracted conclave.<ref name=SV/><ref name=RT/>

Upon his election, Benedict XV was unable to locate a suitable cassock to wear since the three that were available to him did not appropriately fit his frail form. From a diary that recorded the events of the conclave, "the papal habit that was chosen was the small one, but lacking in some part, and being a little long, it was adapted with clothespin pins, and raised and covered with a gold tassel sash".<ref name=RT>{{cite web|url=https://www.ruetir.com/2022/01/20/benedict-xv-100-years-after-his-death-the-pacifist-pope/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207021634/https://www.ruetir.com/2022/01/20/benedict-xv-100-years-after-his-death-the-pacifist-pope/|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 February 2022|title=Benedict XV 100 years after his death: the pacifist pope|publisher=Ruetir|author=|date=20 January 2022|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Peace efforts ===
{{Main|Peace efforts during the First World War}}
[[File:PioXIIgernamia1917.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[Eugenio Pacelli]] at the Imperial Headquarters with the peace proposal of Benedict XV to Emperor [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]]]]
Benedict XV's pontificate was dominated by [[World War I]], which he termed, along with its turbulent aftermath, "the suicide of Europe."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/world-war-pope-benedict-xv-and-pursuit-peace|title=World War I's Pope Benedict XV and the pursuit of peace|publisher=[[National Catholic Reporter]]|author=Terry Philpot|date=19 July 2014|access-date=18 February 2022}}</ref> Benedict's first encyclical extended a heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities. His early call for a general [[Christmas truce]] in 1914 was ignored, although informal truces were organized. Late in the war, in May–October 1917, the [[Marian apparition|apparitions]] of [[Our Lady of Fatima]] occurred in [[Fatima, Portugal]], apparitions that would be declared "worthy of belief" in 1930 during the papacy of his successor, [[Pius XI]].{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

[[File:Papa Benedetto XV.jpeg|thumb|Pope Benedict XV during his reign]]

The national antagonisms between the warring parties were accentuated by religious differences before the war, with France, Italy and Belgium being largely Catholic. Vatican relations with Great Britain were good, while neither [[Prussia]] nor [[Imperial Germany]] had any official relations with the Vatican.  In Protestant circles of Germany, the notion was popular that the Catholic Pope was neutral on paper only, strongly favoring the allies instead.<ref name="Conrad Gröber 1937">Conrad Gröber, ''Handbuch der Religiösen Gegenwartsfragen'', Herder Freiburg, [[Germany|DE]] 1937, 493</ref> Benedict was said to have prompted [[Austria-Hungary]] to go to war in order to weaken the German war machine. Also, allegedly, the Papal Nuncio in Paris{{clarify|There was no Papal Nuncio in Paris between 1904–21|date=April 2024}} explained in a meeting of the ''[[Catholic University of Paris|Institut Catholique]]'', "to fight against France is to fight against God",<ref name="Conrad Gröber 1937" /> and the Pope was said to have exclaimed that he was sorry not to be a Frenchman.<ref name="Conrad Gröber 1937" /> The Belgian Cardinal [[Désiré-Joseph Mercier]], known as a brave patriot during German occupation but also famous for his anti-German propaganda, was said to have been favored by Benedict XV for his enmity to the German cause. After the war, Benedict also allegedly praised the [[Treaty of Versailles]], which humiliated the Germans.<ref name="Conrad Gröber 1937" />

These allegations were rejected by the Vatican's [[Cardinal Secretary of State]] [[Pietro Gasparri]], who wrote on 4 March 1916 that the Holy See is completely impartial and does not favor the allied side. This was even more important, so Gasparri noted, after the diplomatic representatives of Germany and Austria-Hungary to the Vatican were expelled from Rome by Italian authorities.<ref name="Gröber 495">Gröber 495</ref> However, considering all this, German Protestants rejected any "Papal Peace", calling it insulting. French politician [[Georges Clemenceau]], a fierce anti-clerical, claimed to regard the Vatican initiative as anti-French. Benedict made many unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace, but these pleas for a negotiated peace made him unpopular, even in Catholic countries like Italy, among many supporters of the war who were determined to accept nothing less than total victory.<ref name="Pollard, 136">Pollard, 136</ref>

On 1 August 1917, Benedict issued a seven-point peace plan stating that:
# "the moral force of right… be substituted for the material force of arms,"
# there must be "simultaneous and reciprocal diminution of armaments,"
# a mechanism for "international arbitration must be established,"
# "true liberty and common rights over the sea" should exist,
# there should be a "renunciation of war indemnities,"
# occupied territories should be evacuated, and
# there should be "an examination… of rival claims."

Great Britain reacted favorably though popular opinion was mixed.<ref>Youssef Taouk, 'The Pope's Peace Note of 1917: the British response', [http://australiancatholichistoricalsociety.com.au/pdfs/2017/achs%20journal%202016%2037-2%20for%20internet.pdf ''Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society'' 37 (2) (2016)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226064106/http://australiancatholichistoricalsociety.com.au/pdfs/2017/achs%20journal%202016%2037-2%20for%20internet.pdf |date=26 February 2019 }}, 193–207.</ref> [[President of the United States]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] rejected the plan. [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and Austria-Hungary were also favorable, but Germany replied ambiguously.<ref>John R. Smestad Jr., [http://www.loyno.edu/history/journal/1994-5/1994-5.htm  'Europe 1914–1945: Attempts at Peace'] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090708105049/http://www.loyno.edu/history/journal/1994-5/1994-5.htm |date=8 July 2009}}, [[Loyola University New Orleans]] ''The Student Historical Journal 1994–1995'' Vol XXVI.</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher = Brigham Young university | url = http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Pope_Benedict_XV%27s_Peace_Proposal | title = Five of seven points of Benedict XV's peace plan}}.</ref> Benedict also called for outlawing conscription,<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/09/23/102366187.pdf "Pope in New Note to Ban Conscription"], ''New York Times'', 23 September 1917, A1.</ref> a call he repeated in 1921.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/11/16/103568068.pdf "Pope would clinch peace. Urges abolition of conscription as way to disarmament], ''[[New York Times]]'', 16 November 1921, from [[Associated Press]] report.</ref>

Some of the proposals eventually were included in Woodrow Wilson's [[Fourteen Points]] call for peace in January 1918.<ref name="Pollard, 136" /><ref>[http://wcbstv.com/national/Pope.s.Name.2.251671.html Pope's Name Pays Homage To Benedict XV, Took Inspiration From An Anti-War Pontiff]{{dead link |date= November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted= yes}}, [http://wcbstv.com/ WCBSTV], 20 April 2005.</ref>

In Europe, each side saw him as biased in favor of the other and was unwilling to accept the terms he proposed. Still, although unsuccessful, his diplomatic efforts during the war are credited with an increase of papal prestige and served as a model in the 20th century for the peace efforts of [[Pius XII]] before and during [[World War II]], the policies of [[Paul VI]] during the [[Vietnam War]], and the position of [[John Paul II]] before and during the [[Iraq War]].<ref name= "Pollard, 136" />

In addition to his efforts in the field of international diplomacy Pope Benedict also tried to bring about peace through Christian faith, as he published a special prayer in 1915 to be spoken by Catholics throughout the world.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1915/03/14/page/3/article/prayer-for-peace-from-pope-benedict |title= Prayer for Peace from Pope Benedict |work=Chicago Tribune |date= 14 March 1915 |access-date= 1 March 2015}}</ref>

=== Humanitarian efforts ===

[[File:Pio1917.jpg|thumb|right|230px| Nuncio [[Eugenio Pacelli]] delivers packages from Benedict XV to Italian POWs in 1917.]] Almost from the beginning of the war, November 1914, Benedict negotiated with the warring parties about an exchange of wounded and other prisoners of war who were unable to continue fighting. Tens of thousands of such prisoners were exchanged through his intervention.<ref name="Gröber 495" /> On 15 January 1915, he proposed an exchange of civilians from the occupied zones, which resulted in 20,000 persons being sent to unoccupied Southern France in one month.<ref name="Gröber 495" /> In 1916, Benedict managed to hammer out an agreement between both sides by which 29,000 prisoners with lung disease from the [[Chemical weapons in World War I|gas attacks]] could be sent into Switzerland.<ref>Pollard 114</ref> In May 1918, he also negotiated an agreement whereby prisoners on both sides with at least 18 months of captivity and four children at home would also be sent to neutral Switzerland.<ref name="Gröber 495" />

He succeeded in 1915 in reaching an agreement by which the warring parties promised not to let prisoners of war (POWs) work on Sundays and [[Religious holiday|holidays]]. Several individuals on both sides were spared the death penalty after his intervention. [[Hostage]]s were exchanged and corpses repatriated.<ref name="Gröber 495" /> The Pope founded the ''Opera dei Prigionieri'' to assist in distributing information on prisoners. By the end of the war, some 600,000 items of correspondence were processed by the Vatican. Almost a third of it concerned missing persons. Some 40,000 people had asked for help in the repatriation of sick POWs and 50,000 letters were sent from families to their loved ones who were POWs.<ref>Pollard 113</ref>

Both during and after the war, Benedict was primarily concerned about the fate of the children, on whose behalf he issued an encyclical. In 1916 he appealed to the people and clergy of the United States to help him feed the starving children in German-occupied Belgium. His aid to children was not limited to Belgium but extended to children in Lithuania, Poland, Lebanon, Montenegro, Syria and Russia.<ref>Pollard 115</ref> Benedict was particularly appalled at the new military invention of aerial warfare and protested several times against it to no avail.<ref name="Pollard 116">Pollard 116</ref>

In May and June 1915, the [[Ottoman Empire]] waged a [[Armenian genocide|genocide against the Armenian Christian minorities]] in [[Anatolia]]. The Vatican attempted to get Germany and Austria-Hungary involved in protesting to its Turkish ally. The Pope himself sent a personal letter to Sultan [[Mehmed V]], who was also [[Caliph]] of Islam. It had no success "as over a million Armenians died, either killed outright by the Turks or from maltreatment or starvation".<ref name="Pollard 116" />

=== After the war ===
At the time, the anti-Vatican resentment, combined with Italian diplomatic moves to isolate the Vatican in light of the unresolved Roman Question,<ref>Pollard 141 ff</ref> contributed to the exclusion of the Vatican from the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]] (although it was also part of a historical pattern of political and diplomatic marginalization of the papacy after the loss of the Papal States). Despite this, he wrote an [[encyclical]] pleading for international reconciliation, ''Pacem, Dei Munus Pulcherrimum.''<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xv/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xv_enc_23051920_pacem-dei-munus-pulcherrimum_en.htmlPACEM DEI MUNUS PULCHERRIMUM ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XV ON PEACE AND CHRISTIAN RECONCILIATION TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND ORDINARIES IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY SEE]</ref>

After the war, Benedict focused the Vatican's activities on overcoming famine and misery in Europe and establishing contacts and relations with the many new states which were created because of the demise of [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russia]], Austria-Hungary, and Germany. Large food shipments, and information about and contacts with POWs, were to be the first steps for a better understanding of the papacy in Europe.<ref name="Franzen 380" />

Regarding the [[Versailles Peace Conference]], the Vatican believed that the economic conditions imposed on Germany were too harsh and threatened the European economic stability as a whole. Cardinal Gasparri believed that the peace conditions and the humiliation of the Germans would likely result in another war as soon as Germany would be militarily in a position to start one.<ref>Pollard 144</ref> The Vatican also rejected the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, seeing in this step an inevitable and eventual strengthening of Germany.<ref>Pollard, 145</ref> The Vatican also had great reservations about the creation of small successor states which, in the view of Gasparri, were not viable economically and therefore condemned to economic misery.<ref>Pollard 145</ref> Benedict rejected the [[League of Nations]] as a secular organization that was not built on Christian values.<ref name="Pollard 147">Pollard 147</ref> On the other hand, he also condemned European nationalism that was rampant in the 1920s and asked for "European Unification" in his 1920 encyclical [[:it:Pacem Dei Munus Pulcherrimum|''Pacem Dei Munus Pulcherrimum'']], "peace, a beautiful gift of God".<ref name="Pollard 147" /> Similarly, Benedict XV extolled the virtues of peace, denouncing the fragility of a peace that is not wholly oriented towards reconciliation. Prophetically, the Pope wrote that "if almost everywhere the war somehow ended and some peace pacts were signed, the germs of ancient grudges still remain. No peace has value if hatred and enmities are not put down together by means of a reconciliation based on mutual charity".<ref name=RT/>

The pope was also disturbed by the [[October Revolution|communist revolution]] in Russia. He reacted with horror to the strongly anti-religious policies adopted by [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s government along with the bloodshed and widespread famine which occurred during the subsequent [[Russian Civil War]]. He undertook the greatest efforts trying to help the victims of the Russian famine with millions in relief.<ref name="Pollard 147" />