Paperback: Now for the first time author Charles T Murr (The Society of Judas) vividly recounts his conversations with Josefine Lehnert - the woman known in some circles as La Popessa. Few women in the 20th century wielded more power and influence than did Josefine Lehnert (1894-1983). No woman, in twenty centuries, ever wielded more power and influence in the Vatican.
When Josefine Lehnert entered Holy Cross Convent [Menzinger, Switzerland], she was given the name "Pascalina." In 1917, the beautiful young nun from Bavaria and two other Sisters were sent to Munich to organize and maintain the nunciature. The Holy See's newly appointed Nuncio to Bavaria was 41-year-old Eugenion Pacelli.
For the rest of his diplomatic career, Schwester Pascalina would remain his personal secretary, housekeeper and ne plus ultra confidante. When Pacelli was recalled to Rom e in 1929 and subsequently made a cardinal and appointed Secretary of State, he requested that Sister Pascalina be permitted to continue working with him. She was the first woman ever to reside in the Apostolic Palace.
In 1939, on the first ballot and by a unanimous [minus one] vote, Eugeion Pacelli became the world's 260th Pope; the twelfth to take the name "Pius."
Romanità - an unofficial yet rigorous ecclesiastical/Italianate protocol that permeates diplomacy to this day - saw fit to "promote" the new pontiff's secretary. Henceforth, "Sister" Pascalina was "Mother" Pascalina.
Strong woman that she was, "La Madre" was keenly and constantly aware of the tightrope she was walking - and more so of the snake pit just below it. As the pope's closest confidante, she strove for anonymity; kept any opinion she might have had on any matter, private or public, strictly to herself; avoided photographers and journalists like the plague and - perhaps most challengingly of all - ignored every cruel rumour and innuendo, never dignifying one of them with a response.
Undoubtedly, Pope Pius XII was a giant among men; an outstanding intellectual; a saviour to countless victims of World War II; a courageous advocate for the voiceless; a born leader who understood a complicated world and its leaders, good and evil; a Pope worthy to be called "Great."
It is said that "Behind every great man is a great woman." The history of Pope Pius XII and Mother Pascalina requires one very important word change to that maxim: "Beside every great man stands a great woman."
The Godmother: Madre Pascalina, A Feminine Tour de Force (2017) is essential reading for anyone interested in modern Church history and for those seeking spiritual growth and development.
About the author: Charles Theodore Murr (b 1950) is a Catholic priest, theologian, author, philosopher, linguist, psychologist and founder of an Orphanage in Tepatitlan, Jalisco, Mexico. Murr is notable as a recipient of the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World" award and the "Ten Outstanding Young Americans". Both honours were awarded in 1985.
After completing his primary and secondary education, Murr then went on to St Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, obtaining his BA (Magna cum Laude) in Romance Languages in 1971, while also taking graduate courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the summers of 1970 and 1971 in French, Spanish and Latin, and courses in Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In the fall of 1971, he enrolled in the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Urbe, Rome, Italy; earning a second Baccalaureate, this time in Philosophy in 1972. He then began theological studies at the same University, earning another Baccalaureate, this time in Thomistic Theology, finishing in 1975. Moving on to Graduate Theology, Murr attended the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Rome, Italy, earning a (Doctoral-level) Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1977, and continuing there, earning a Licentiate in Philosophical Anthropology in 1979.
His continuing education includes: Universität Salzburg; Salzburg, Austria, 1993–1994, Psychology and German; Saint Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, New York, M.Div. 1996, and New York University, New York, New York, M.S. in Psychology, 2001. Father Murr has written five books.
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