Rome, Mar. 3. IPLOMATIC ability displayed in achieving the conclusion of a Concordat between Prussia, the stronghold of Lutheranism, and the Holy See, brought Cardinal Pacelli to the fore, and assured for him a high post in the Vatican State, The new Pope, who chose to be known as Pius XII, was born on March 2, 1376, Eugenio Pacelli, the son of an Italian noble family whose relations with the Vatican had always been intimate. After studying theology in Rome, he was ordained in February 1901, and joined the staff of the Papal Secretary of State. In 1912, he was appointed under-secretary by Pope Pius X and continued in this post under Pope Benedict XV until April, 1917 when, on the death of the Papal Nuncio in Munich, he was sent to fill his place.
He was consecrated Archbishop of Sardi and arrived in Munich in May 1917, at a time when Germany was engaged in her struggle against the Allies. Shortly afterwards he was received by the Kaiser at his general headquarters at the front.
He also asked the Emperor to use his influence to put an end to the deportations of the Belgians. The Nuncio's report-on these interviews. fag" well as. those from other papal representatives abroad may have contributed to the famous attempt made by Pope Benedict August 1, 1917, to mediate between the warring nations.
During the revolution in Germany after the War, he showed rare courage when in' 1919 a group of terrousts, pistols in hand, invaded the Nunelature. Without finching, he met the revolutionaries, quietly pointed out that they were on soil Which enjoyed the privilege of extraterritoriality, and warned them against laying' hands on a. foreign Giplomat. His magnetic personality won the day. The attackers with drew abashed.
February, 1090, Cardinal Pacelli, the youngest' member of the Sacred, College, was appointed Secretary of State, the most important post in the Vatican after that of the Sovereign Two years later, negotiations with the representative of Adolf Hitler who had become Chancellor of Germany, Cardinat Pacelli signed yet another Concordat with Germany, this time in the ican city.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.