He was originally highly dubious about the Vatican rehabilitating Galileo during the Vatican Council, but was less opposed to it by the time Pope John Paul II officially did so in 1979, and he spoke at the age of 91 on the 1700th anniversary of the conversion of Armenia to Christianity in an effort to unite the Roman and Armenian Churches. His age disqualified him from participating in the papal conclaves of 1978. When he died in 1986, he was the oldest living cardinal, seven weeks shy of his ninety-sixth birthday. Parente, who is rumored to have assisted Pope Pius XII in preparing the encyclical "Humani generis", wrote in "Filosofia e teologia di Pio XII" (Vaticano 1967) about the magisterium of Pius XII, which he characterized as firm without any bending of eternal truth in favour of popular beliefs in his days. Pius XII demands respects for he achievements of the past, but also openness for the questions of our time. He rejects theological relativism, which would reduce the Christian faith to grass, bent by the winds of time. At the same time, he demands adaptation of existing teachings to the language of the time. The magisterium of the papacy is according to Parente, of divine and not human origin. He used the papacy not only to teach the truth but also to bring together all Christians separated from the Holy Roman Catholic Church, but not by reducing basic the truth entrusted to the Church. Pius XII according to Parente, set firm pointers in mariology (Munificentissimus Deus and Fulgens corona), liturgy (Mediator Dei), the definition of the Church, ("Mystici corporis"), biblical exegesis ("Divino afflante Spiritu"), and, the application of papal infallibility (with the Dogma of the Assumption). But, according to Parente, Pope Pius added to all these firm positions caveats, which allow adaptations at a later time, modifications but never radical deviations. Thus, the theology is both conservative and progressive. Parente states that Pius XII predicted the crisis of theology which did follow his pontificate after Vatican II. This crisis, so Parente, cannot be overcome, by going back to the theology or Canon Law of 1918. It will be overcome with a compromise between conservativism and progressivism, maintaining the doctrinal basics and utilizing new language and culture. According to him, Pope Pius XII created the methodological apparatus for such a synthesis.