We must express satisfaction for this ceremony which offers to us and to all those who from now on will visit the Vatican Basilica the veneration and admiration of a Monument worthy of the venerated and glorious memory of Pope Pius XII, who 25 years ago on this day which is dedicated to the veneration of St. Gregory the Great, was Crowned Supreme Pontiff of the Roman and Universal Church.
    And We associate Ourselves with the commemorative words just now pronounced with nobility of thought and depth of feeling by the Lord Cardinal Gregory Peter Agagianian in his own name and in that of the Lord Cardinals who were created by the mourned Pontiff and to whom the credit for the Monument itself is due.
    We, first and foremost, We first who have experienced the formidable fate of succeeding Pope Pius XII to the Throne, from which there emerged for two decades the great figure of him who was great as a man and great as a Pontiff; We are therefore anxious to prevent that perchance his most noble stature should be measured in the opinion of men against Our own lowliness.
    We first of all, as We were saying, must express satisfaction that on receiving the heritage of Pius XII, safeguarded, increased and transmitted to Us by his immediate Successor and Predecessor, Pope John XXIII, of no less Beloved and Venerable memory, We know its value and weight and We cannot but wish and rejoice that a Monument so worthy, as this one is, should attest to this heritabe, to the merit it had at the time when it was formed and which it must have in future history.
    We, more than anyone, must express satisfaction that We had the good fortune and the honor of rendering to him, during long years of close and daily conversation, Our humble but most faithful service, We who enjoyed so much of his confidence, so much of his trust, so much of his affability; We who were the admiring witness although lazy disciple, of the absolute dedication to his Apostolic Office which was understood by him and pondered on with an ever-wakeful conscience, the witness of the mildness of his spirit, which was also firm, a complex spirit and one which at times preferred solitary reflection; the witness of his faultless piety, which in truth was not greatly inclined toward outward forms of Worship but which rather turned inwardly to inner effusions and personal observances; witness also to the incomparable vigor of his intelligence, of the exceptional powers of his memory and of his admirable versatility of spirit, of his phenomenal resistance to the burden of work, despite frail limbs and weak health, witness of his rare capacity in noting and attending to small things concerning the substantial and formal perfection of his work, and simultaneously he was ever-vigilant in attending to great things in which his activity was engaged.
    We who were able to perceive the intimate and natural expressions of his anxious and intrepid sense of responsibility toward any matter which came within the luminous focus of his immediate attention, as regards study, research, the effort of perception, (guided) by the Sovereign Light of Divine Will, in the rigorous observance of his Apostolic mandate, in the profound love for the Holy Church, in the cordial determination that no one should be unjustly offended, in showing everyone, if possible, the difficult, arduous and therefore the inflexible line of his Sacred Duty, which at first was almost undecipherable yet later unfailing and clear.
    On this subject We could say much more but this is not the moment to draw up a biography or deliver an apologia on such a great Pontiff.  We must simply say at this moment that We are pleased to see the majestic and impressive figure of Pope Pius XII captured here in bronze by the craft and art of the sculptor Messina.
    And We are pleased because it seems to Us that the Monument is not a display of vain show but a mark of piety, of beauty and of history, which not only lends new luster to the walls of this Basilica, but which places there a light within the rays of which it will be well to pause to the admonishment and comfort of religious feelings, of manifold wisdom and human goodness.
    For Our generation then, which knew him, and which now sees his figure drawing further away into the past, which is undergoing new times, and which, amid voices of praise and of grief, hears voices rising up regarding the memory of the Papacy of Pius XII, voices of criticism and even unjust and ungrateful clamors of blame and accusation, for Our generation this pause before this hieratic and dramatic figure will serve to arouse in the soul two principal, natural and dutiful acts: rembrance and recognition.
    This statue will indeed lead Us to remember, for in its living and almost perturbed aspect, it reawakens spontaneously the question, who is he?  What was the life of the man who is here represented?  We should recall a Priestly life, pure, pious, austere, industrious, often full of suffering, always channeled toward study, prayer and the service of the Church.
    We should remember what the pattern of this life was: he was a Roman (from the time of Innocent XIII, that is to say, during the past two centuries, Rome had no Popes of Roman origin); he was a zealous Priest, a Professor at the Appolinare; he entered the Secretariat of State, was secretary for the Codification of Canon Law (the whole Code passed through his fingers); then he was Nuncio to Bavaria and Germany.
    He concluded valuable Concordats; he was Secretary of State, highly esteemed by Pope Pius XI for nine years and then he was Pope from March, 1939, to October, 1958.
    And what was his work?  The principal portion, as he said, was the Magisterium, in speeches, writings and actions.  Within the reach of all are the 20 volumes of his speeches, pronounced during his Pontificate, and prepared by him with care, with great feeling and daily toil.  No less should be recalled the 43 Encyclicals of Pius XII, some of which have great importance and great weight; the Ecumenical Council now in progress cannot ignore them.
    The Apostolic Constitutions issued by him amount to several hundred.  Of them We cite one, the Dogmatic Bull of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.  No Pontiff has spoken or written so much.  The Doctrinal work of Pius XII greatly enriches the cultural Patrimony of the Church.
    And his activities?  This is better recalled if We view it against the background of the events which surrounded the life of Pope Pius XII.  It is enough to recall Nazism, the war and the post-war period.  And it is here that Our remembrance will have to become recognition and indeed gratitude.
    Standing before this statue of a Pontiff, in which something of the anxieties and of the sufferings of the war seem to be reflected, we would have to recognize the title which is due him and which the Roman people on the day of liberation, June 4, 1944, seemed to attribute to him, Defensor Civitatis (Defender of the City).
    Yes, if Rome did not suffer greater ruin than that inflicted on some of the outskirts, it is mainly due to this Pope. This cannot, must not be forgotten.  His memory must be dear and Sacred to those who profess a love and admiration for the City (of Rome), for those who have here their homes, interests and memories.
    Let this monument be a dutiful Sign of Our gratitude and a Legitimate Trophy to his memory.
    Now was this defense the only merit that public gratitude must attribute to the wise and couragious work of Pius XII. In as far as circumstances allowed him, circumstances which he assessed with intense and conscientious reflection, he used his voice and his activity to proclaim the rights of Justice, to defend the weak, to give help to the suffering, to prevent greater evils and to smooth the path of peace.  One cannot attribute it to cowardice, lack of interest or the selfishness of the Pope, if innumerable and immeasurable evils befell humanity.
    Anyone who maintained the contrary would offend Truth and Justice.  If the results of the studies, of the efforts, of the prayers, and of humanitarian and peace-seeking activities of Pius XII were not equal to his desires and to the needs of others, he did not fail to make his own the drama of iniquity, of sorrow and of blood, of the world torn by war and obsessed by the fury of totalitarianism and of oppression.
    He was eminently the Pope of Peace, of the human person, of the orderly and brotherly organization of peoples and of the social classes.  His successor, Pope John XXIII bears witness to this, when he draws from the writings of Pius XII the marrow of the teachings by virtue of which the two Encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, are justly famous.
    He was a friend of Our time.  He systematically opened and began the dialogue with all forms of modern life by applying the criterion of the solving of present problems in the goodness and Truth of the Gospel.
    To remember him is a pius act, to be grateful to him is justice.
    To follow his teachings and example will be comforting.  And to think of him again, close to Us, still Our friend, still master, still father, in the communion of Saints, will be for Us all not a vain hope.

 The True Answer To World Peace -- qwest site
 Triumph Of Church -- qwest site

 The True Answer To World Peace -- reagan site
 Triumph Of Mary -- reagan site