Word: pius
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...happened, John made himself into a conscientious and accomplished diplomat. But he never particularly liked the work, and it gave him a huge distaste for the Vatican court as it existed under the long-reigning Pius XII (1939-58). He found it artificial and impersonal -- and undemocratic. He wanted to bring into the running of the church the thousands of bishops, hundreds of thousands of priests and the countless millions of ordinary Catholics throughout the world. Hence, in 1959, only a year after he became Pope, he summoned the Second Vatican Council. He compared the idea to a flinging open...
Indisputably a newsmaker, Pope John Paul II can be a reluctant man in the news. It tells you something that he admires Pius IX, the 19th century Pope who withdrew into his palace after Italy seized from the Vatican both Rome and the papal states. Reclusive is no word for John Paul, but the widely traveled figure whom TIME has made Man of the Year is still deeply and deliberately private. Meaning someone who almost never grants on-the-record interviews. Meaning, journalistically, a tough nut to crack...
...management of impresario Charles L. Wagner, the elegant stylist McCormack grossed $5 million in performance fees from 1908 to 1920. McCormack was an Irish-born naturalized American, and in Ireland he went by the title of Count John McCormack, which was conferred on him in 1928 by Pope Pius XI. He was so popular that in 1938, the year of his teary farewell recital in London's Albert Hall, he was touted as a candidate for the Irish presidency...
...possible canonization of POPE PIUS XII, which the Vatican has been investigating for over 25 years, is drawing fire from a Jewish leader. Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, says Pius XII (who reigned from 1939 to '58) was publicly silent during the Holocaust. Hier also says a letter he obtained from a Vatican official indicates that the nomination is moving forward. Father John Pawlikowski of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago says outrage is premature: "The process is a long one, and any major decisions could be years away." Look for the issue to spark discussions...
...incapable of fathoming the ultimate origins of matter and energy, which will always come under the realm of religion. George Coyne, a Jesuit astrophysicist who directs the Vatican Observatory, warns against reducing science to religion, or vice versa. For instance, when the Big Bang theory was brand new, Pope Pius XII wrote that "scientists are beginning to find the finger of God in the creation of the universe." Coyne thinks the Pope was wrong to "take a scientific conclusion and interpret it in favor of supporting a theological doctrine." Working scientists "don't need God for our scientific understanding...