Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (March 2, 1876 – October 9, 1958),
was the 260th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He served from
March 2, 1939 until his death. He was proceeded by Pius XI, and
succeeded by John XXIII. Pope Pius was born Eugenio Maria
Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli on March 2, 1876 in Rome, Italy. He
was ordained into the priesthood on April 2, 1899. Under his
predecessor, Pope Pius XI, Pacelli served as Vatican Secretary
of State and later as Camerlengo.He served as Pope during World
War II. Israeli scholar Pinchas Lapide stated in his book, The
Last Three Popes, that the Church under Pius’ pontificate, “was
instrumental in saving the lives of 860,000 Jews from certain
death at Nazi hands. The figure far exceeds those saved by all
other churches and rescue operations combined.”Upon the death of
Pope Pius, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, commented that,
“During the ten years of Nazi terror, when our people went
through the horrors of martyrdom, the Pope raised his voice to
condemn the persecutors