Saturday, May 30, 2009

Pius XII: we need somebody to buy his old birthplace!


Palazzo Pediconi, nel quale Eugenio Pacelli vide la luce il 2 marzo 1876.

Somebody has got to say some prayers and make an offer on this downtown Rome flat where the future Pius XII was born so that we can finally have a museum there dedicated to his memory (a museum which should have been opened seventy years ago, in 1939).

Why? Every single twentieth century pope - except for Pius XII - has a museum in the rooms of his birthplace dedicated to his saintly memory.

On the "secondo piano" (third floor from the top) of this Rome palace is the flat where the future Pope Pius XII was born on March 2, 1876. The family rented the flat at that time and it was called the Palazzo Pediconi in the old Rione Ponte neighborhood. The street name then was Via di Monte Giordano, but is today called Via degli Orsini, 34.

In Carpineto Romano is the museum at the birthplace of Leo XIII, in Riese Pio X is the museum at the birthplace of Pius X, in Genova is the museum at the birthplace of Benedict XV, at Desio is the museum at the birthplace of Pius XI, at Sotto il Monte is the museum at the birthplace of John XXIII, at Concesio is the museum at the birthplace of Paul VI, at Canale d'Agordo is the museum at the birthplace of John Paul I and at Wadowice is the museum at the birthplace of John Paul II.

And for Pius XII? Nothing, yet.

Millions of pilgrims and tourists arrive in Rome each year and just a minute walk off main street in the heart of downtown Rome is the birthplace of Pius XII, still a private residence that ought to be purchased and made into a museum as soon as possible.

Anybody want to take up this cause?

1 comment:

humboldt said...

YES, it should be a museum. It is a disgrace.