As the Catholic world prepares for the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, Christianity buffs are looking at an eerie precedent in the history of papal deaths happening just on the onset of major conflicts. Pope Francis will be buried as conflicts around the world continue, including in Gaza to Ukraine – and amid growing fears of a new global war erupting as tensions between Russia and the West continue to rise.
Two other popes in modern history died just before the outbreak of major conflicts. Back in 1939, Pope Pius XI succumbed to a heart attack, marking the end of a pontificate that had run since 1922. Pius XI was notably the first head of the Vatican State when it formally became independent on February 11, 1929, as well as the author of a number of papal encyclicals. Meaning “circular letter”, an encyclical is a papal document concerning Catholic doctrine, and Pius XI authored a number of these works in his time at the top of the church. Perhaps most influential was his encyclical “Quadragesimo anno”, meaning “40th year”, which came four decades after Pope Leo XIII’s milestone social publication.
Leo XIII’s “Rerum novarum”, literally meaning “of revolutionary change” but titled in English as “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour, highlighted the conditions of the working classes and supported the right to form unions while rejecting socialism and unrestricted capitalism.
Pius XI’s work echoed these dangers arising from unrestrained capitalism, socialism and Russian communism.
As part of his leadership of the church, he approved a treaty between the Vatican and Nazi Germany, which guaranteed the rights of the Church in the country.
However, the treaty was breached by the Nazis on numerous occasions as they interfered with Catholic schooling, youth groups and cultural societies.
In response, Pius XI authored an encyclical in 1937 titled “with deep anxiety” which had to be smuggled into Germany to avoid censorship.
Written in German rather than the usual Latin, it condemned breaches of the previous agreement and the Nazi government, though did not mention the party or Adolf Hitler by name.
In November of the following year, Pius XI suffered two heart attacks within several hours, leaving him with serious breathing problems which prevented him from leaving his apartment.
After a third heart attack in February 1939, Pius XI died aged 81, with his last audible words reported to have been “peace, peace”.
As is tradition, his body was placed in a wooden coffin, placed in a bronze casket, which was then placed in a lead casket, before the late pope was buried in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica on February 14, 1939.
Of course, World War 2 would erupt just months later in September 1939, oddly mirroring the outbreak of war in 1914 after the death of another pontiff.
Pope Pius X was head of the Catholic Church from 1903 until his death in 1914, famous for his opposition to modern interpretations of Catholic teaching.
He was committed to his own personal poverty and regularly gave sermons from the pulpit, which was rare at the time.
After the Messina earthquake in 1908, he offered refugees shelter in the Apostolic Palace, the pope’s official residence and was revered by many after his death for his piety and holiness.
Pius X suffered a heart attack in 1913, falling ill again in August 1914 with what was thought to be a fever and lung complications.
His condition was said to have been worsened by the event leading to the outbreak of World War 1, which reportedly made the late pontiff “melancholy”.
After contracting pneumonia, the pope died aged 79 on August 20 1914, the day German forces marched into Brussels.
Pius X is reported to have said shortly before his death: “The Almighty in His inexhaustible goodness wishes to spare me the horrors which Europe is undergoing”.
He was buried in a simple tomb in the crypt below St Peter’s Basilica and, when the process of attaining sainthood was begun 30 years later, his remains were exhumed and found to be “miraculously incorrupt”.
In 1955, he was canonised and is now known as Pope Saint Pius X.