Pius XII and Maria Valtorta
Born on March 2, 1876, and deceased on October 9, 1958, Pius XII was the 260th pope of the Catholic Church. His pontificate coincided with the years during which The Gospel as Revealed to Me was written, and the pontiff was informed of its progress. He gave significant support to the publication efforts of this work in the face of sustained opposition within the Holy Office.
Did the Pope approve and support the Work of Maria Valtorta?[edit | edit source]
Yes, the support of Pius XII for the visions of Maria Valtorta[1] was effective and explicit. Pius XII was familiar with these cases of extraordinary mystics and had some reason to be so.
In April 1937, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was then a very close collaborator of Pius XI, directing the Secretariat of State, the most important dicastery of the Vatican as it served the Pope himself. At that time, Elisabetta, his youngest sister, introduced him to a 21-year-old young woman who had just approached her at St. Peter's Square. She had received a description of the Virgin Mary and an order to go see the future Pius XII through her. She had a message to deliver. This was done.
Luigina Sinapi, the young seer, thus transmitted the message she had received at the place called Tre Fontane (the three fountains) in Rome:Exactly in ten years, she confided to him, I will return to this place. I will use a man who today persecutes the Church and wants to kill the Pope ... Now go to St. Peter's Square, you will find a lady dressed like this ... and you will ask her to take you to her brother, the Cardinal. You will bring him my message. From this place, I will establish the throne of my glory in Rome ... You will also tell the Cardinal that he will be the future Pope.The prophecies were fulfilled: first the election of Pius XII two years later, in March 1939, then the Apparitions of Tre Fontane in April 1947, almost exactly ten years later, to Bruno Cornacchiola who converted and went to tell the Pope whom he had previously intended to assassinate. But Pius XII had already confided to Father Ricardo Lombardi, a Jesuit, that he already knew everything.
These coincidences struck the Holy Father, who often consulted the seer either by telephone conversations or visits. This "privilege" was very ill regarded by prelates, especially the Holy Office. She intervened with the Holy Office to defend the work of Maria Valtorta, which the Holy Father already believed published. At the time when young Luigina came to announce her prophecies, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was writing the preface to A Call to Love, a book of private revelations entrusted to Sister Josefa Menéndez (1890-1923). Major revelations which Maria Valtorta read starting January 22, 1949[2], after she had received her visions of the life of Jesus. She recognized in them the Divine Author who had also inspired her.
These elements indicate well Pius XII's interest in private revelations and his desire to exercise personally his judgment in this field beyond the censors of the Holy Office.
The Papal Audience[edit | edit source]
On February 26, 1948, Pius XII received in a special audience Fathers Corrado Berti, Romualdo Migliorini, and Andrea Cecchin after having received and read the typescript of the work of Maria Valtorta. This fact is attested convergently by the Osservatore Romano dated the day after, by Father Berti’s testimony, and by a report from the Holy Office (Mgr Giovanni Pepe) dated February 2, 1949.
The Holy Office was outraged by this audience, which went against their will to hinder the work of Maria Valtorta since 1946 and demonstrated an opinion of the Sovereign Pontiff opposed to theirs.
Indeed, the Sovereign Pontiff and his Secretariat of State would never have accepted such an audience if the promoters had truly acted "in open disobedience[3] to the decree of the Holy Office cited above dated March 13, 1946, approved by His Holiness," as affirmed by Mgr G. Pepe[4].
According to the testimony of Father Corrado Berti[5], who noted the words immediately after the audience, Pius XII would have concluded:"Publish the work as it is. There is no need to give an opinion regarding its origin, whether extraordinary or not. Those who read it will understand."His statement made publicly three times, has never been denied or clarified. It is furthermore confirmed by the fact that, according to the Holy Office, Pius XII asked to turn to the Ordinary for the usual imprimatur[4]. Well, on such a subject, the Sovereign Pontiff is the ultimate judge[6], the opinion was given personally, as required by Church rules in this matter[7]. No pope has ever formally issued an imprimatur as such for an author's work. It should also be noted that the period is one in which Pius XII was particularly sensitive to distortions that could be made of the Gospel. He would firmly express this in 1950 in his encyclical Humani Generis regarding "some false opinions that threaten to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine." He would therefore not have asked to initiate the publication process if the work of Maria Valtorta had presented any danger in this regard.
It has also been questioned whether the Sovereign Pontiff had read the entire typescript provided to him. One can reasonably think that he read enough to approve the publication of a work titled so engagingly: "Words of Eternal Life" or "Gospel of Jesus Christ"[4]. The Holy Office report, at the end of the document, implicitly confirms this as it wonders if the document the Pope had in his hands was a faithful copy[4].
Finally, questions have been raised about the absence of clear recognition of a divine origin of the work. This forgets that the Church does not guarantee the divine origin of a private revelation: it only authorizes prudent reading of it[7].
The Work progresses in a favorable climate[edit | edit source]
On April 11, 1948, just weeks after the papal audience, Mgr Carinci personally went to Viareggio[8]. He was a close associate of the Pope who organized all his religious ceremonies and had been a confidant of Pius X. In his functions, he had to supervise 62 canonization processes and 200 beatification ones. It means he did not easily get swayed. So when he wrote later:
It comes to me quite spontaneously the desire to thank the Lord for having given us through this Woman who suffered so much, bedridden, a work that is literarily sublime, doctrinally and spiritually so elevated[9].He thereby recognized the inspired origin of the Work and its high value.
During this first meeting, Maria Valtorta asked him to take care of the Work’s approval, which Jesus insisted upon. She had only limited trust in the Order of the Servants of Mary to whom she had been entrusted[10].
On May 20, 1948, Maria Valtorta noted the climate of trust that now prevailed, especially thanks to Father Berti[11].
Summer 1948, Parole di Vita eterna was published with the imprimatur of Mgr Barneschi. This is a prototype of what would become The Gospel as Revealed to Me.
On October 25, 1948, Maria Valtorta announced the probable release of the first volume[12].
One cannot imagine that this could have happened within the Vatican entourage without the Pope’s favorable opinion. Moreover, he took care of the Work as soon as the Holy Office began its hostile attitude which resulted, after the death of Pius XII, in the unworthy placing on the Index, fomented by machinations[13].
His support during the confrontation period[edit | edit source]
On November 11, 1948, the Procurator General of the Servants of Mary (the secretary-general of the order) received a request from the Pope relayed by Mgrs Montini and Tardini so that the future publication would be secured by "a second more valid approval." He was to call upon printers "not belonging to the Vatican City, so as not to cause harm to the Work by hostile prelats."[14].
On December 23, 1948, Maria Valtorta received a serious supplication addressed by God the Father Himself to Pope Pius XII. He was invited to defend with authority and firmness a work that would be the "future glory of his pontificate"[15].
On January 9, 1949, under the pressure of alarming events, Maria Valtorta took the initiative to address Mgr Alfonso Carinci directly. She informed him that "ongoing and ever-increasing difficulties come from certain prelates to prevent the successful completion of the work"[16].
She was well inspired to do so, as this close associate of Pius XII, a man of piety and compassion, was able to diplomatically neutralize the Holy Office’s offensive. He escalated the arbitration to the Holy Father and mobilized "illustrious figures" who defended the Work[17].
However, his first reaction was to temporize and minimize the intentions of the Holy Office: holy souls do not imagine evil, they trust in all things[18].
Upon receipt of his first letter, Maria Valtorta responded immediately, assuring him of her trust and obedience[19]. Mgr Carinci showed this letter to the Holy Father a few days later. He noted the favorable reaction of Pius XII who told him he was taking care of the Holy Office[20].
Thus the Pope himself took good care of Maria Valtorta’s case. But the reaction was not one of obedience. On February 22, 1949, the Work was abruptly stopped. Father Berti was summoned "outside of all procedures" by two censors, including Mgr Giovanni Pepe, responsible for book censorship, the very one who would be dismissed by Pius XII three years later for a fault that showed how little the Holy Office valued the Pope’s opinion[21].
At the initiative of Mgr Carinci, a second interview with the Holy Father was scheduled, which temporarily suspended the Holy Office’s offensive. But this second interview did not take place for two reasons: because the Holy Year of 1950 occupied the Sovereign Pontiff’s schedule, and because the Pope’s entourage, although favorable to Maria Valtorta, did not want a direct confrontation with the Holy Office that was feared.
Mgr Carinci organized a plea to the Holy Father in which the authoritative figures mentioned, "the illustrious personalities" whom the Holy Office would later mock, calling them naive, appeared. Dated January 29, 1952, this plea by prominent figures resulted in the Holy Office’s downturn…
On June 29, 1952, Feast of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul, Mgr Carinci celebrated Mass in Maria Valtorta’s very room in Viareggio, causing her unspeakable joy[22].
In August, Mgr Giovanni Pepe was removed from his duties for having placed books about Padre Pio on the Index without the Pope’s opinion.
Thus the first volumes of the Poema dell’Uomo-Dio were able to be released without trouble from 1956 onward, but shortly after the death of Pius XII and on the very day Mgr Carinci ended his duties (January 5, 1960), the Osservatore Romano published the unworthy placing on the Index patiently built by certain members of the Holy Office in the shadows of the corridors.
But their victory was short-lived, because although Maria Valtorta’s Work had lost these powerful defenders, Heaven did not leave it defenseless.
On November 8, 1963, when Cardinal Josef Frings declared amid applause from the conciliar assembly:No one can be condemned without having been heard, without having had the possibility to defend oneself and also to correct oneself[23].He was not speaking about the morals prevailing in the police behind the Iron Curtain, but about the procedures of the Holy Office, which for many were "a scandalous object"[24].
Soon the Index would be suppressed, in law and in consequence. The Work would then illuminate the path of seven saints and blesseds following the Venerable Pius XII[25].
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Those concerning the life of Jesus which were presented to him, which he read, and which are now known under the title The Gospel as Revealed to Me.
- ↑ The Notebooks, anecdote dated January 22, 1949, reported on January 28, 1949.
- ↑ Commentary on "Maria Valtorta, Vatican dossier" by Alexis Maillard, 2025, pp. 3-4.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Holy Office, Brevi notizie, February 2, 1949. Translated by Alexis Maillard.
- ↑ Father Berti, initiator of the appeal to the Pope, notably testified to these words in his Affidavit of December 8, 1978, Exposé, § 3. He renewed his testimony on February 20, 1980, in an article published in a Dominican review (Rivista di ascetica e mistica, now Vita cristiana). His words were never contradicted.
- ↑ According to the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Can. 218 and 219), the pope holds the final judgment on matters of revelations.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pius X recalled that in matters of private revelations, they are "believed only as human faith." Even recognized Apparitions or revelations "have neither been approved nor condemned by the Holy See, which has simply allowed them to be believed on purely human faith" (Encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, § 75 September 8, 1907).
- ↑ Pro e contro Maria Valtorta {it}, page 73.
- ↑ Ib°, page 41.
- ↑ Letters to Mother Teresa Maria {it}, Volume 2, January 12, 1947.
- ↑ The Notebooks 1945-1950, May 20, 1948, pages 476/477.
- ↑ Letters to Mother Teresa Maria {it}, Volume 2, October 25, 1948.
- ↑ See in this regard The Opposition to Maria Valtorta, Volume 1, page 95 and following, 2019, CEV.
- ↑ Letters to Mother Teresa Maria {it}, Volume 2, November 11, 1948, page 160.
- ↑ The Notebooks, December 23, 1948.
- ↑ Letters to Mons. Carinci {it}, letter of January 9, 1949.
- ↑ Among them: Cardinal Augustin Bea, confessor of Pius XII, Director of the Pontifical Biblical Institute; Camillo Corsànego, Dean of Consistorial Counselors in charge of canonization processes; Mgr Ugo Lattanzi, Dean of the Pontifical Lateran University; Mgr Maurizio Raffa, Director of the Centro internazionale di comparazione e sintesi, declared Righteous Among the Nations; Vittorio Tredici, President of the Association of Italian Mining Industries, declared Righteous Among the Nations, etc.
- ↑ See 1 Corinthians 13:7.
- ↑ Letters to Mons. Carinci {it}, January 20, 1949.
- ↑ Ib°, Notes of Mgr Carinci in the margin of the January 20, 1949 letter.
- ↑ The Opposition to Maria Valtorta, Volume 1, page 105.
- ↑ Pro e contro Maria Valtorta, The attestations of 1952 and a petition to Pius XII, page 73.
- ↑ Assembly of November 8, 1963.
- ↑ Ib°.
- ↑ Saint John Paul II, Saint Paul VI, Saint Padre Pio, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Blessed Gabriele M. Allegra, Blessed Mother Inès of the Most Holy Sacrament, Blessed Luigi Novarese, all readers or promoters of The Gospel as Revealed to Me.