Benedict XV : a historiographical reading (Part 1)

Abstract

A man whose voice was greatly ignored during his own lifetime, Benedict XV (1914-1922) seemed to be destined to suffer the same fate even after death. For decades historiography left this pope undisturbed, forgotten in that silence with which death wraps up the fate of most men. Destined to become, with the exception of John Paul I’s short pontificate, the most forgotten pontificate of the twentieth century, few attempts have been made to study this man, his action and legacy, so much so that it has become symptomatic to describe him as the unrecognized,1 indeed the unknown,2 pope. Historiography has even shied away from studying in depth the reasons for such forgetfulness.3 The fact that this relatively short pontificate, only seven years and five months long, was largely marked by the Great War and its aftermath, ending exactly when the rampant nationalistic sentiments so forcefully denounced by Benedict XV were taking over Europe, certainly hindered a positive evaluation of this personality. Just nine months after his death, in Italy, the Marcia su Roma on 28th October 1922, secured power to the Fascists.