New Tiara for the Pope

First, a nod of the head and dug of the forelock to Ad Orientem where I first learned of this. HH Pope Benedict XVI has been presented with his own papal tiara, paid for by German businessman Dieter Philippi and constructed by artisans in Sofia, Bulgaria, symbolic of the hope emphasized by Benedict XVI for greater unity between the eastern and western Churches (always a good thing in my book). It is even odds if the Pope will ever actually make use of his new tiara but I would consider it only polite to do so -don't want to seem unappreciative of such a gift right? The absence of a papal coronation in recent decades is one of the losses I mourn in western civilization. Of course, as most know, Pope Benedict XVI has adopted a much more "traditional" style compared to his predecessors on the Petrine throne and it was said that he had wanted to have a coronation but was told that it would be impossible to organize at such short notice after his election. So, next time, -no excuses! Plan it out in advance and now there is one more crown to choose from to use in the coronation. I would like to think that Benedict XVI would find occasion to wear this one but, I also don't want to get my hopes up. For his eventual successor, to be crowned with Benedict's tiara would be a nice tribute to the Pontiff would it not?

Bl. John Paul II and his Hungarian tiara

As most know it was Pope Paul VI who was the last to have a coronation and the last to make use of the papal tiara (he surrendered his at the end of Vatican II). The smiling, short-lived Pope John Paul I had none and Blessed Pope John Paul II said that, while it was proper to have a coronation, it was not appropriate to do so at his time because of the recent, tragic loss of his predecessor. However, not many know that Bl. John Paul II did have a tiara of his own. It was more traditional than that of Paul VI but still rather simple when compared to others as it was made in Hungary, behind the "Iron Curtain", smuggled out and presented to the Pontiff as a symbol of the determined faith of the Catholic Hungarians. It was never worn of course and its existence only made public after the end of the communist regime. Pope Benedict's tiara was presented to the Pontiff at his Wednesday general audience by a delegation of Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims in the name of Christian unity.

Benedict XVI presented with his tiara

Papal Profile: Pope Benedict XV

Giacomo della Chiesa was a small, frail man, known as "Tiny" while in the seminary, but as Pope Benedict XV he had the very big job of guiding the Church, fortified in doctrinal truth by Saint Pius X, through the horrific years of World War I. He had been a cardinal for only three months before his election as "Supreme Pontiff" but had considerable experience as a papal diplomat during the reign of Leo XIII.

The election of such a newly created cardinal was a clear indication, that particularly in the Europe of 1914, that the Church needed someone with the ability to negotiate with surrounding countries and deal with the problems facing the world in a very practical way. Benedict himself, being the little, compassionate man that he was, stood in total horror of the effects of modern, industrialized warfare.

Throughout the conflict, his entire energies were spent in the pursuit of an arranged, negotiated peace. To accomplish this, he adopted a strict policy of impartial neutrality. He refused to comment on any nation-specific charges of atrocities but spoke out at length on the cruelty and inhumanity of the war as a whole, urging all nations to cease and come together in reconciliation. He proposed that all conquered lands be returned to their former owners and that each nation pay for its own reconstruction. Neither side was pleased with his impartiality, calling him, alternately, the 'Boche Pope' and 'der Franzoesische Papst'. His calls for peace were ignored by all the major powers save Emperor Charles I of Austria and King Albert I of the Belgians (both devout Catholics) and their efforts were thwarted by their more powerful allies.

However, it must be remembered that, at this time, the Pope was still treated as a prisoner of the Vatican, and still claimed temporal authority over Rome and the Patrimony of St. Peter. This was significant in that, hoping to gain papal favor, Germany offered to restore Rome to the Pope after the eventual defeat of Italy. It also meant that his fellow Italians were anxious to prevent the Pope from having any voice in international politics.

Italy, rightly so, was afraid that if the Pope became the arbiter of European peace, he might seek redress for the illegal seizure of his own country in the preceeding century. Due to this, in one of the secret, under-handed agreements all too common at the time, Italy forced the other allied powers to agree, in 1915, that they would not deal or negotiate with the Pope at all. Thus, the war went on until 1918, and afterwards Benedict was even denied representation at the peace conference in Versailles.

Although greatly relieved that the war had ended, Benedict XV showed considerable foresight in his great displeasure with the peace terms. He viewed the Treaty of Versailles as an un-Christian act of vengance against Germany and could hardly have been pleased with the replacement of so many Catholic monarchs with anti-clerical, nationalistic, socialistic regimes.
Yet, the Pope was determined still to come to the aid of his beleagured flock. In fact, he all but emptied the Vatican treasury, giving some 82 million lire to aid the wounded, impoverished and homeless people left in the wake of the war. He also began trying to project a more open and friendly face of the Church and sent envoys across the continent to arrange concordats with the new governments to secure the future of the Church in Europe. In 1920 he even went so far as to officially allow other Catholic rulers to visit the King of Italy at the Quirinal (the former papal residence). He also allowed Catholics to participate in Italian politics once again, blessed the somewhat radical Catholic 'Partito Poplare', reconciled with France, which included the great canonization of St Joan of Arc in 1920 and encouraged the growth of trade unions to fight for workers. Sadly, not long after peace was finally secured in Europe, Pope Benedict XV died in 1922.