Pope Pius XII on Postcards

 

            Eugenio Pacelli was born March 2, 1876 and he died October 9, 1958. He is known best as Pope Pius XII, and collectors can find lots of postcards with his image on them in the religion or papal categories used by dealers.

            Many postcards of Pius XII (e.g. Figure 1) portray him as a holy man, one whom some cards label as "Pastor Angelicus," the angelic pastor who cares for his people. Within the Roman Catholic Church, efforts have begun to declare him a saint, but these have been made difficult by the controversy over the late Pope's role in World War II regarding the Holocaust. In particular, there is the 1999 book by an award-winning British journalist, John Cornwell, entitled Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, which is both praised and condemned.

            There are defenders of the Pope and detractors, and the controversy is not yet at an end. The defenders cite Pacelli's personal efforts to help Jews with personal papers, food, and shelter. The detractors concentrate on his silence in the face of overwhelming evidence of Nazi atrocities. The defenders are not all Roman Catholics, some are Jewish. The detractors are not all Jewish, but even Roman Catholics. The Vatican has opened their archives, and an International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission issued their first report in October 2000 detailing some of the questions they wish to address further deriving from their preliminary examination of the eleven volumes of archival material published by the Vatican between 1965 and 1981.

            However the historical research turns out, collectors can build a Pius XII collection from the many postcards available. Some portray the man himself in his official robes or his white cassock. There are photographs of the Pope entering the papal audience hall or walking in the Vatican gardens. Others present a stylized replica of him stressing his holiness or concern for all humanity in the name of Christ.

            Pius XII proclaimed 1950 as a Holy Year (Anno Santo or Annus Sanctus) with the special emphasis on pilgrimages to the four major basilicas in Rome which is a unique part of Jubilees or Holy Years. One can find postcards printed for pilgrims to record their visit for the folks back home.

            Contemporary papal postcards, such as those of Pope John Paul II, show actual photographs of the pope with particular dignitaries or in various places around the world because of his extensive traveling. Those of Pius XII, however, are largely designed to make a statement about the Pope as a person or about  his role in the religious environment of the Roman Catholic Church and the world. This collector has yet to find a postcard portraying Pius XII with particular individuals, such as leaders of states. The War in Europe may have been a reason for such isolation, but so too was the solitary and ascetic lifestyle of Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, Pope Pius XII.

Delve into that religious or papal category at the next postcard show and see what you can find. 

 

 

 

[Published in the February 2002 issue of Postcard Collector.]